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Now THIS is a f'n hero.


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Father of 2 becomes hero in abducted girl's rescue

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press The Associated Press

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 5:57 AM ED

 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The timing was just right for saving the life of a 6-year-old girl and for turning a 24-year-old mechanic and father of two young daughters into a hero.

 

It was coincidence that Antonio Diaz Chacon had come home from work early to spend time with his family Monday afternoon. It was also a coincidence that the family's washing machine had just gone out, forcing them to do laundry a block down the road at a relative's home.

 

Had it not been for that, Diaz Chacon wouldn't have been there to see the girl thrown into a van as another neighbor yelled for the would-be kidnapper to let the child go.

 

Diaz Chacon is credited with saving the girl after chasing the van through a maze of neighborhoods to the edge of where Albuquerque's sprawling housing developments meet the desert. It was there where the van crashed into a pole, the suspect fled and Diaz Chacon was able to rescue the girl and take her home.

 

He didn't think twice about his actions.

 

"The way he grabbed her and threw her into the van, I knew it wasn't right," he said, as a swarm of media stood outside his home Tuesday night to hear his story. The events were interpreted and relayed from Spanish to English by his wife.

 

"I knew I had to catch him. I had to get the girl back from him and take her home, back where she belongs," he said.

 

It all happened so fast on a sidewalk in the normally quiet mobile home park, where even on the evening after the abduction kids played freely in the streets on their bikes and push scooters as food vendors sold roasted corn and other snacks.

 

A pair of 911 calls came in quick succession.

 

On one, a frantic 12-year-old says her little sister is missing. On the other is Diaz Chacon's wife, Martha.

 

"We are outside of my mom's house here," she told the dispatcher. "We heard a man going, `Hey, hey let her go. Let her go.' So we turn around ...

 

"The man came running to us and said, `They stole a little girl.'"

 

Phillip Garcia, 29, had snatched the girl moments earlier, taking her away in a blue van, police said.

 

Diaz Chacon jumped in his black pickup and gave chase.

 

It wasn't until the van crashed and the driver got out that any sense of fear set in for Diaz Chacon.

 

"When he got down I was thinking, what if he has a gun," he said.

 

Garcia fled on foot, and Diaz Chacon reached the girl and told her he would take her home. Garcia then returned to his wrecked van and took off but was later captured by police, authorities said.

 

Hidden under a rock just 25 feet from the van was packing tape and a tie-down strap, police said.

 

Inside the impounded van were tostadas, a glove, a Leatherman tool, a black satchel, orange strapping similar to the strap found hidden under the rock, police said.

 

"This little girl was very lucky," police Sgt. Tricia Hoffman said. "We can only guess what would have happened to this child."

 

"Throughout the county we see situations like this and they do not end typically well," she said.

 

Police were among those who called Diaz Chacon a hero.

 

One of his daughters even shared the news about her dad's heroic actions with friends at school on Tuesday.

 

Diaz Chacon said he was proud to help. While he was chasing the van, he said, he thought of his own two girls — one 7 years old, the other 5 months — and how he would want someone to do the same for him.

 

"I told him `I don't know how you could do it, just go after him, not knowing where he's going, what he's going to do?" his wife said. "But he saved a life." Garcia was charged with kidnapping, child abuse and tampering with evidence. Hoffman said Garcia is from Albuquerque and had a revoked license but she was unsure if he had a criminal record.

 

Garcia immediately "lawyered up," declining to give any statement to authorities, Hoffman said. Garcia remained jailed and no lawyer had yet been listed as taking the case, according to court officials.

 

There have not been any other recent child abductions or attempted abductions in the city, Hoffman said.

 

The girl told police she had gone to a neighbor's to pick up some tostadas and was walking home when the van stopped and the man grabbed her.

 

"She went to go to the neighbor's and on her way back we don't know what happened to her. ... When she was coming back or on her way, she just like disappeared," her sister said in the 911 call.

 

The girl was grabbed with such force, police said, that bruising had already begun to appear on her chest and back Monday evening. The girl told police the man put his hand over her mouth and she bit him.

 

She said the man shoved her on the floorboard to keep her head under the window view, according to the police report. She told police there were no backseats in the van and described other details consistent with the impounded van, police said.

 

She also described rolling in the van when it crashed, and breaking a fingernail. Police said they found what appeared to be a piece of fingernail in the van.

 

During her interview, police said the girl was concerned that she was unable to bring the tostadas home because she had left them in the van.

 

The Diazes said the girl's family had thanked them on Monday, saying they would always be grateful for what the young father had done.

 

Martha Diaz said she was grateful what could have been a parent's worst nightmare was not realized that day.

 

"Everything just worked out," she said, referring to the perfect timing of that afternoon.

 

"Even now we say, `What if, what if we hadn't seen him? What if he would have been two minutes earlier.'"

 

———

 

Associated Press writer Jeri Clausing in Albuquerque, N.M., contributed to this report.

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I prefer this alternate headline from Glenn Beck's The Blaze:: "Non-English speaking (illegal?) immigrant with two anchor-babies causes car crash"

 

On that note, I was kinda wondering what happens if it comes out that he's not supposed to be here...

 

:wacko:

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:wacko:

 

It would've only been better if the kidnapper died in the crash.

While I wouldn't mind that an accident happens while he's under lock and key, I would like to know if he admits to multiple abductions. The article seems to hint that there were more before and stopped after. There are plenty of unsolved crimes out there. If they catch a repeat offender it can help the prior victim's families move on as best they can.

 

I'd like to shake the hero's hand though.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A man whose gutsy and quick action saved a family from its worst nightmare is winning praise and offers of help from people across the country.

 

Antonio Diaz Chacon, 24, used his truck to chase a man after he allegedly snatched a 6-year-old girl and fled with her in his van, rescuing the child when the vehicle crashed.

 

Now, police and reporters have received calls from people requesting an address to send gift cards, money and even donations for a college savings fund for his two children.

 

"We're just overwhelmed with all of this. We're trying to take it all in," his wife, Martha, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. She has been sharing his story, relaying from Spanish to English details of that eventful afternoon that turned the mechanic and father of two into a hero.

 

Diaz Chacon had no idea his quick reaction would result in such an outpouring of appreciation and an online flood of high-fives for his heroic actions.

 

Shelly Hornback, of Buckeye, Ariz., said in a telephone interview she was happy to learn the little girl was saved and she felt she had to do something to recognize Diaz Chacon's efforts.

 

"It was like he restored our faith in humanity that people are good, and clearly to act so quickly for the common good made such a big difference. A lot of people would just not be so brave," she said.

 

"Here, he jumped in like Superman and saved that girl and made us all remember that there are good people out there who care."

 

Diaz Chacon was not even supposed to be home Monday afternoon. He left work early to spend time with his family. Nor was he supposed to be at his mother-in-law's home about a block away, where the couple had gone to do laundry after their washing machine had broken.

 

He was in the right place at the right time to see what could have been a family tragedy.

 

"He just says, `You know what, it was something I had to do,'" Martha Diaz said of her husband's gut reaction. "We didn't expect this outcome."

 

The phone was constantly ringing at the family's home Wednesday, but Martha Diaz didn't mind answering the calls from well-wishers and those asking how they could help.

 

"This was never our intention, but I didn't know there were still so many good people out there," she said.

 

The funny thing is many others feel the same way about her husband.

 

Susan Draine, a grandmother from Kent, Wash., said Diaz Chacon's actions are having a ripple effect by making people stand up and take notice. She suggested starting a college fund for his children as a way to repay his bravery.

 

Ann Boyrazian, of Morton Grove, Ill., said she felt good after reading about Diaz Chacon. She wanted to make a donation and recruit others to help purchase a new washing machine for his family.

 

"I read the story and saw his picture and it spoke about his character and his morals," she said. "I just felt good. Good for him."

 

The women's sentiments were echoed across social networking sites, where people referred to him as everything from a hero to a stud. There's even a Facebook page aimed at getting the couple a new washing machine.

 

The events unfolded quickly Monday afternoon as Diaz Chacon and his wife were loading their laundry into their truck. They heard a neighbor yelling and turned around to see the girl being thrown into a blue van.

 

Diaz Chacon dropped off his wife at the mobile home park's office so she could call police and he took off in pursuit of the van, twisting and turning through a maze of residential streets.

 

The chase ended at the edge of the city when the van crashed into a pole and the driver ran away.

 

The driver, whom police identified as Phillip Garcia, 29, returned to his wrecked van and then left but was later arrested. State District Judge Sandra Engel on Wednesday ordered Garcia held on a $100,000 cash bond, saying he was a danger to society.

 

Hidden under a rock just 25 feet from the crashed van was packing tape and a tie-down strap, police said.

 

Inside the van was a glove, a Leatherman tool, a black satchel and orange strapping similar to the strap found under the rock.

 

The girl told police she had gone to a neighbor's house to pick up some tostadas and was walking home when the van stopped and the man grabbed her. She told police the man put his hand over her mouth and she bit him.

 

———

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Awesome :wacko:

 

This reminds me of a story some years back where a guy saved a young (teens/20s) girl who was being dragged off the road into the roads, most assuredly to be raped. This guy gave chase and the POS fled. Turns out the hero was an alcy who was on parole for drunken whatever (maybe driving not sure) but they waived any action for him violating his parole given what he did.

 

These stories should be our headlines instead of the "POFS shoots innocent people" stuff. Very often IMO the POSs want those splashy headlines bad. Plus we have enough crapola making the biggest headlines as it is.

Edited by BeeR
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I prefer this alternate headline from Glenn Beck's The Blaze:: "Non-English speaking (illegal?) immigrant with two anchor-babies causes car crash"

:wacko:

Hero says he's an illegal immigrant

Hopes to change perception of undocumented workers

 

Updated: Saturday, 20 Aug 2011, 2:42 PM MDT

Published : Friday, 19 Aug 2011, 10:20 PM MDT

Reporter: Katie Kim

 

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The Albuquerque man who is being hailed a hero for chasing down a kidnapper and saving a 6-year-old girl said he's an illegal immigrant. Antonio Diaz Chacón, 23, is now at the center of the debate over illegal immigration.

 

"We're just trying to take it all in," said Martha Diaz Chacón, who was translating for her husband.

 

Diaz Chacón, who works as a mechanic, became an instant celebrity with hundreds of news stories written about him across the country and people from coast to coast wanting to send the hero their thanks.

 

"He thinks this happened for a reason," said Martha.

 

Diaz Chacón and Martha, who is a U.S. citizen, have been married for two years. The couple has been living in Albuquerque for four years.

 

Diaz Chacón said he's tried to get his citizenship in the past but stopped after the process became too time-consuming and expensive.

 

Still, he believes there is a reason why he was the one to save the girl Monday night.

 

"Now that everywhere people are attacking immigrants, he thinks this happened for a reason, for people to know that immigrants aren't just criminals," said Martha.

 

Immigrant rights groups are using Diaz Chacón's story to counter the calls for deporting all illegal immigrants. President Barack Obama announced Thursday his administration will only focus on deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

 

Javier Martinez, associate director of the Partnership for Community Action, said Obama's new deportation policy is the beginning of immigration reform, but he said the news isn't as promising in New Mexico. Gov. Susana Martinez continues to fight to repeal the law that issues driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

 

"The governor is ignoring the complexity of immigration," said Javier Martinez. "Most immigrants in New Mexico who have a driver's license are here because they want to work, make a better life for themselves and their families. In some cases, save others lives as we saw in Mr. Diaz Chacón."

 

Gov. Martinez said she believes foreign nationals in the country legally, through work permits or visas, should be able to receive driver's licenses but is opposed to giving IDs to illegal immigrants.

 

"The radical special-interest groups shamefully exploiting this man, who may or may not be here illegally, to further their cause cannot ignore the litany of well-documented cases of this policy that put the public at risk, one of which occurred literally a few blocks away at a Denny's restaurant in 2009 when gang members from El Salvador who had driver's licenses committed a murder," said Scott Darnell, a spokesman for the governor.

 

Diaz Chacón isn't concerned he revealed his immigration status to the media because he said "he's done nothing wrong."

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I say don't deport any illegal immigrant that saves the life of an abducted child. :wacko:

 

Otherwise I would rather that we as a nation enforce our laws instead of ignoring them. This amazing courageous and heroic act shouldn't wipe out our laws and our borders.

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I say don't deport any illegal immigrant that saves the life of an abducted child. :wacko:

 

Otherwise I would rather that we as a nation enforce our laws instead of ignoring them. This amazing courageous and heroic act shouldn't wipe out our laws and our borders.

 

What if the abducted child was here illegally or the spawn of an illegal alien?

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it seems too difficult to deport illegal immigrants when they do commit a crime that it would be a crime to deport an illegal who did something so wonderful.

 

Aren't they commiting a crime by being here illegally?

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