How Police officer rescues kidnapped eight-year-old girl and buys her a new bike for Christmas

Mesa Police Officer Jonathon Appel is seen here posing with an 8-year-old girl and her brand-new pink bike, which he had bought for her to replace the one that had been seized after her
kidnapping

An Arizona police officer is being hailed as a hero not only for rescuing an abducted 8-year-old girl, but also for buying the child a bicycle with his own money to replace the one that had been seized.

According to a lengthy post on Mesa Police Department’s Facebook page, last Sunday Officer Jonathon Appel was the first to respond to a report of a kidnapping.

The cop made his way to the area of Dobson Street and Broadway where he believed the suspect had crashed his car after kidnapping an 8-year-old girl.

As he approached an alley, the terrified victim ran out of hiding and into Appel’s arms. The 8-year-old was said to be in tears and obviously shaken.

Less than an hour later, police arrested the suspected abductor, 22-year-old Robert Curtis Milliron, of Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Appel returned the kidnapping victim to her anxious family, much to their relief.

In the course of the investigation into the child-snatching, it was revealed that Milliron had handled the 8-year-old’s pink bike, forcing police to seize it for evidence.

Touched by the girl’s plight and determined to cheer her up for the holidays, officer Appel returned to her home Monday and took the whole family to Wal-Mart, where he purchased a brand-new pink bicycle to replace the one she had lost.

‘I did not want her to be without a bike for Christmas,’ Appel said. ‘I wanted her to have a new bike, to which she could affix new and happier memories.’

The kidnapping took place Sunday afternoon when police say Milliron spotted the 8-year-old girl riding her bike, pulled up to her in his car, scooped her up and took off, the station MyFox Phoenix reported.

According to investigators, the child was with Milliron only about a minute before he got into an accident and fled on foot, seeking refuge inside a cash checking place where he was apprehended 45 minutes later.