Twelve-year-old Antwaun Jones is opening up about the scary experience of being abducted by a stranger at gunpoint.
Antwaun was walking to the park in the town of Kenbridge, Virginia, on Sunday when a man pulled up next to him in a Chevy Blazer. Police say the man got out of the car, put a gun to Jones’ stomach and told him to get in.
Investigators have identified the suspect as 26-year-old Eric Donte Harrison. Antwaun says he had never seen the man in his life. As Harrison was reaching for him in the car, Antwaun was reaching for the door.
“He started to speed up the car. He was going like 35 at first, then he started speeding up to 50, then 55,” Antwaun tells CBS affiliate WTVR. That’s when he made the risky decision to leap out of the moving car. “As soon as he hit 60, I just jumped,” he recalls.
When he bravely took the leap, Antwaun says he hit his head about three times. “The pain level was a 10 and I tucked and rolled at first. I got my first cut, then it started cutting all up and down my body,” he says.
An eyewitness who saw Antwaun jump out of the car called 911 and the boy’s parents. Antwaun was taken to South Hill Hospital and released later that night. His injuries include a broken collarbone and a chipped elbow.
“He’s his own hero. He saved his own life,” Antwaun’s father, Anthony Jones tells WTVR, “I was grateful to God for protecting and bringing my son back to me.”
Investigators say surveillance video from a local store, as well as a bystander recognizing Harrison in a photo, helped them identify him as the suspect. They found Harrison within two hours of the abduction on Sunday.
As for his decision to jump out of a moving car, Antwaun says it was worth the risk and injuries.
“I don’t mind having a couple broken bones as long as I get back home to my family,” he says.
