KEY POINTS:
A man who helped save a 10-year-old girl from being kidnapped and then ran out of fuel trying to find the would-be abductor says he didn't hesitate running to her aid.
Theo Hoffman yelled out to an offender once he saw him trying to bundle the girl into his car in the coastal suburb of Stanmore Bay on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, north of Auckland, and ran to her aid as she tried to fight the offender off.
Once he saw the girl was safe he tried to pursue the offender's four-wheel drive but lost him as the vehicle went over a hill, and his van ran out of diesel after spending about 10 minutes trying to find the car.
The girl today said the offender threatened to kill her unless she got into the car.
Police have praised the actions of Mr Hoffman, a scaffolder who has lived in Stanmore Bay for nine years, but he said he acted the way he would have hoped anyone else would have faced with a similar situation.
"I just stopped outside a mate's place when I heard a young girl screaming," Mr Hoffman said.
"I wasn't quite sure if it was just a family matter on the side of the road so I hopped out of the vehicle and started to walk over towards the vehicle.
"I yelled out 'what's going on' and suddenly the girl fell backwards onto the footpath and the person jumped in the vehicle and started to drive off. It was then that I realised it was more of a serious situation than I thought."
Mr Hoffman said he then approached the girl, who would only be identified as Katie, to check if she was all right. "The girl replied that she wasn't all right and that she was told to get in the vehicle otherwise she would be killed."
After she walked to her home nearby, Mr Hoffman got in the car to pursue the offender's vehicle "but the vehicle got away from me".
"It was up a hill and over a rise. By the time I got to the top of the rise I couldn't see if he'd turned left or right.
"I drove around about five or 10 minutes looking for the vehicle but I ran out of diesel. I still don't have any diesel yet. The vehicle's still parked outside another friend's place."
Mr Hoffman, a father of five children between 12 and 18, said he hoped other people would react the same in a similar situation.
"It's nice to have that but I'd do that for anyone in that situation and we'd all hope other people would do the same for us."
He said he hoped to meet the girl and her family shortly, and that police would shortly catch the offender, of whom he didn't get a clear view.
"I wouldn't wish what happened to her on anyone, and that they catch him soon. We don't want people like that out there."
Speaking to media today, Katie confirmed the offender threatened to kill her and that something worse would have happened had Mr Hoffman not intervened.
"He got out of the car and said: 'Hi' and then he grabbed me on the back and on the legs and said: 'I'll kill you if you don't get in the stupid car'," she said.
"I struggled a bit more and I shouted out: 'Mum! Help!' and then I think he saw that man in the van and just got back in the driver's side and drove off leaving me half on the path and half on the road."
Katie said she wanted to speak to Mr Hoffman to thank him for his help.
Her parents, who would only identify themselves as Andy and Janet, moved out to New Zealand from England in October with their three children.
"That gentleman who chased him, I just can't thank him enough, I really can't. We could be taking about something a lot worse today if he hadn't of been there," Andy said.
"I hope they catch him (the offender) very soon and I hope he rots in hell. He's obviously a dangerous man and he's got to be off the streets."
Detective Sergeant Mark Palma of Orewa police said the offender was a male caucasian in his late 30s or early 40s, between 180cm and 185cm tall with black hair and some facial hair on his chin. He was wearing jeans with a black jacket with white writing on the sleeves.
His vehicle, black or very dark navy, had a covered tyre on its rear and distinctive red silky looking seat covers.
- NZPA
