Victor Perez saw the suspect's pickup truck on television after she was abducted Monday evening. He was amazed when he saw the pickup drive by his home Tuesday morning. He jumped in his car, chased it down, cut it off, and rescued the little girl when the driver pushed her onto the street and sped off.
Since then, Perez has become an instant folk hero of sorts.
"It made me feel good hearing from other people across the nation," Perez said. "Wow, I didn't know it reached all the way over there and how much people were so much [sic] interested to hear my story. It's just a regular reaction that I would have done for anybody."
Within an hour, a highway patrol officer spotted the pickup truck and arrested suspect Gregorio Gonzalez.
It was an emotional and tearful meeting between the little girl's mother, Patricia Cardenas, and Perez.
In Spanish, she told him, "I never thought there would be someone with such a big heart to rescue my daughter and risk your life." She thanked him and said, "May God repay you because you have no idea how you relieved the pain in my heart."
Police say the little girl was sexually assaulted during her ordeal.
