A city crossing guard who thwarted a child-abduction attempt outside an East Hollywood elementary school was honored as a hero today.
Adrian Young, who has been working as a crossing guard for more than 15 years, received flowers and a certificate of appreciation from City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell for the quick action she took on Aug. 16 when a woman grabbed an 8-year-old girl outside Alexandria Elementary School.
Young said she heard the girl yelling as the woman tried to pull her through the crosswalk at Rosewood and Alexandria avenues.
“She kept saying, ‘Please help me miss crossing guard, please help me,”‘ Young said. “And I told her to hold on to me as tight as she can, do not let go, because both of us (were) very small and the lady was bigger than me.”
At less than 5 feet tall, Young held onto the girl, even as the woman began to fight with her. Young managed to punch the woman, who then fled.
“Sometimes superheroes come in small packages,” O’Farrell said.
Young received a tearful hug from the 8-year-old girl’s mother, Sharon Arellano.
“If it (wasn’t) for her, I wouldn’t know where my daughter would be right now,” Arellano told CBS2.
The woman who grabbed the girl was later captured, and is being treated at a mental health facility, Channel 2 reported.
