By Amanda Ruiz, Reporter
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Yolanda Rodela is warning parents to watch their children closely after her 8-year-old daughter, Layla, had a frightening encounter with a strange man.
“She’s playing in the tube and I noticed a gentleman. He parked and I wasn’t too worried at first,” Rodela said.
Rodela and her daughter were at Jackson Elementary School park when Rodela says a strange man approached Layla as she was playing.
“I see that he’s looking at Layla and he’s watching her as Layla’s coming out the tube then he’s getting out the car and waving her over,” she said.
That’s when a red flag went off in her head. She said she knew his intentions were not good so she did only thing she could think of to save her daughter - scream. When she did, her daughter ran over and the man immediately sped off in his car. Rodela was able to capture this photo of the man’s vehicle.
“I’ve been here in Lubbock my whole life and I’ve raised my children here, so to think something so close to home. That’s scary,” Rodela said.
She says it makes her worry that she could lose her little girl at any moment.
“He would have easily have picked her up over the fence. He was closer to her than I was. I feel guilty because I got to bring my Layla home and not a lot of people have that chance. I just thank god I was paying attention,” Rodela said.
Layla says this left her with a lesson she wants to share with others. “Don’t trust strangers and when your parents are calling you make sure you go over cause that has to be safe,” Layla said.
A police report was filed for this incident.
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