Training gave student 'A Fighting Chance'

The 12-year-old girl said she never ran so fast as when she was fleeing a man who trailed her in his car while she walking her dog just a block and a half away from her home.

"I thought this isn't right - my instincts told me to run," said the girl. "I was suspicious of the way he talked to me and the way he looked."

The middle school student used the skills she learned in the A Fighting Chance child abduction protection program to get away from the man who followed her. The man was later arrested after the girl's father got the vehicle's license plate number and reported it to the sheriff's office.

"The training is what saved her," said Deputy Chris Griffith, youth services officer for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. "Her parents contacted us and said the child abduction training made her react in a positive way."

Griffith teaches the Fighting Chance program to all fifth- and sixth-graders in the county. A Fighting Chance is funded by Soroptimist International of Carson Valley.

"In A Fighting Chance we try to empower kids mentally and emotionally to take control of their lives anywhere, anytime," he said.

Through a series of lectures and exercises, the program teaches students basic self-defense tactics, good decision-making skills and the confidence to stand up for themselves.

Griffith said the kids have to react immediately.

"We tell them, 'The best time to get away is right away,'" he said. "Those folks are looking for willing participants, so don't cooperate."

"He asked me where my mom was," the girl said. "I just started running away. I screamed all the way home. I don't think I've ever run so fast before."

The girl's stepmother said she arrived at home with leash and collar in hand and the dog running behind.

After the ordeal, the girl received pats on the back from her family and the deputies for her quick thinking to identify the man.

"They told me that I might have saved someone else's life (in reporting a possible crime) and that made me feel better," she said. "I feel more like my eyes are opened. I'm more aware of my surroundings now but I can't go on walks by myself.

"I hope kids will be more aware. When you're walking, make sure your head is up to see what you're doing," she said.

The girl said her parents taught her to be suspicious and she would have probably known to run away when she was approached by a man in a car but her training taught her to run and scream.

"Everything automatically popped into my head of what Officer Griffith had said to do in class," said the girl.

"You did everything right," said Griffith.

Fighting Chance Basics:

n If you have gut feeling something is wrong, you're probably right

n Walk in groups of three or four

n If someone in a car tries to grab you, run in the opposite direction of the car

n If case of danger, fight, kick, scream, run and yell "fire!"