Mcdonald's Worker Averts Kidnapping Attempt

Alleged luring thwarted by teenage eatery worker Transient accused of second-degree kidnapping

(Saturday, January 03, 2009) - A woman who works at McDonald's on Plum Street in downtown Olympia pulled an 8-year-old girl from the grasp of a man who now is being held at the Thurston County Jail on second-degree kidnapping charges.


Serenity LaChapelle, 18, said the child didn't appear to know the man and refused to leave with him when he tried to take her.

"She was really scared. ... I just grabbed the little girl and pulled her over the counter," LaChapelle said. "Then I told him he needed to keep his hands off the child, and I was calling the cops."

The girl and her 12-year-old brother were at McDonald's about 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19 because their mother had been delayed by snow and had told the children to wait for her there, Olympia Police Sgt. Paul Johnson said.

According to court papers, the man had asked the girl to go with him and "grabbed her by the shoulder with a firm grip and attempted to take her out of the McDonald's." The girl "started to resist, and the McDonald's employee grabbed (the child) and a struggle ensued for a few moments. The employee was able to break the child free from the white male and pull her over the counter."

LaChapelle said she pulled the girl's brother over the counter as well. She said the man apologized, saying he knew the children and was going to take them home. But the children said they did not know the man, LaChapelle said.

Thurston County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Wheeler said LaChapelle's act of bravery is to be applauded.

The man left after LaChapelle intervened, but based on LaChapelle's description, Olympia police arrested Richard Earl Knauss, 46, on suspicion of luring later that night after he was found near the restaurant, Johnson said.

The charge was amended by a Thurston County Superior Court judge to second-degree kidnapping, Wheeler said. Knauss pleaded not guilty to the charge during a court hearing Tuesday.

According to court papers, Knauss is a transient and told authorities he had been camping out in a tent and staying at The Salvation Army. Knauss told authorities he is unemployed and suffers from long-term alcoholism, court papers state.

"He still had a very strong odor of alcohol," reads Knauss' pretrial services report.

Knauss had four alcohol-related arrest warrants at the time of his arrest Dec. 19, court papers state.

LaChapelle said the children had been waiting in the restaurant since she had arrived at work about 4:30 p.m., three hours before the incident.

"The kids had been in there all day basically, so I was talking to them while I was cleaning the lobby and stuff," she said.

LaChapelle, an 18-year-old Olympia High School graduate, said that when she intervened, "I was trying to be polite about it because it's my job." But LaChapelle said she became angry when Knauss continued to resist, and she thought about her own 10-year-old brother.

She said that after the man fled, she let the girl's brother call his mother. Later, "the little girl gave me a hug about it," LaChapelle said.

She said what she did was no big deal.

"Anybody that has relatives that are that age, they would have done the same thing," LaChapelle said.

View all McDonald's Press Releases

This article has been read 178 times.

Printer Friendly