Gas station clerk saves woman from kidnapping suspects

Monday, July 16, 2018
Clerk helps kidnapping victim
Clerk helps kidnapping victim. Matt O'Donnell reports during Action News Mornings on July 16, 2018.

FRESNO, Calif. -- A gas station clerk is being called a hero after springing into action when a woman, shaking with fear, pleaded for help to hide her from kidnappers.

Surveillance video shows the woman walking into the Northern California gas station and talking to clerk Savannah Pritchett.

Pritchett locks the store's front door and walks the woman towards the restroom, locking her inside and giving her a cell phone to call 911.

Then the clerk lets the alleged kidnappers into the store.

"I knew that if I left the door locked they would have caught on to something and probably took off. So I went back up there and I unlocked the door. They seriously had no idea that I knew anything," said Pritchet.

Minutes later, officers storm in with guns drawn and arrested 18-year-old Anthony Sandoval and, eventually, three juvenile suspects.

The suspects told police that the victim had been kidnapped a day earlier in Fresno and was sexually assaulted.

The woman is now home safe with her family.

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