Woman saved from kidnapping by mouthing ‘help me’ to police officer
‘While the male passenger wasn’t looking at the driver, the female silently mouthed ‘Help Me’ repeatedly,’ police say
An abducted woman was saved in South Carolina after she mouthed “help me” to a police officer.
North Myrtle Beach Police Officer Kayla Wallace was patrolling Highway 17 when she spotted a white Jeep run a red light at an intersection.
During a subsequent traffic stop, she noticed as she spoke to the occupants of the car that the driver, a woman, appeared “distressed” alongside the man in the passenger’s seat.
“While the male passenger wasn’t looking at the driver, the female silently mouthed ‘Help Me’ repeatedly,” the police department wrote on Facebook.
The officer removed the passenger and put him in her patrol vehicle. When she returned to the woman behind the wheel of the Jeep, she “frantically” said the passenger had “just shot someone”.
“Moments later, a ‘Bolo’ (Be On the Look Out) was sent over the radio from dispatch regarding a vehicle that was just involved in a shooting in the county,” the department wrote. “Due to Officer Wallace proactively patrolling the streets of North Myrtle Beach, even to the last 30 minutes of her shift, a suspect in a shooting was arrested and an unlawfully carried pistol was recovered underneath the suspect’s seat. Our department and our community is lucky to have Officer Wallace.”
The passenger was later identified as Collins Bates, according to The Messenger. He’s in jail as he’s facing several charges, including attempted murder, kidnapping, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to WBTW.
Officer Wallace, who joined the department in 2021, “did not know anything about the shooting prior to her stop,” Officer Pat Wilkinson told CBS News.
“She was being a proactive police officer and simply observed a traffic violation 30 minutes before the end of her shift,” he added.
Mr Bates, 29, is alleged to have shot someone and threatened the woman, forcing her to drive him away, legal filings state.