AURORA, Colo. — A girl who was shown in a witness video and store surveillance being assaulted and kidnapped in an Aurora shopping center parking lot has been identified and is safe, Aurora Police said.
After police viewed two videos that showed a male slapping and forcibly putting a girl into a car and driving away, they weren't sure if everyone seen in the videos was safe. They asked for the public's help in identifying the people in the video to make sure everyone involved was safe.
During their investigation of the incident, they also found a witness who said they "overheard the victim asking an unknown person for help because the suspect had been assaulting her."
Police first called it a "suspicious incident" after receiving witness video from around 8:45 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of the Cornerstar Shopping Center on Briarwood Circle near South Chambers Way. Later, police found store surveillance that had a different angle of the incident that showed a man slapping a girl and forcing her into a car and driving away.
That's when police said they were now investigating an assault and kidnapping. Police released the witness video and pictures of the victim and others involved because they did not know the identity of anyone in the videos.
Police said video shows four males drive a black Mercedes Benz sedan into the shopping center parking lot and wait by the Nissan SUV. One person then gets out of the sedan and walks toward two females in the parking lot.
The videos show a male take one of the females by the arm, walk her over to the Nissan for a moment as they look inside the car and talk, then pull her over to the Mercedes, put her in the back seat and drive away.
The other female is left standing in the parking lot by herself as she records video on her cell phone of the Mercedes driving off.
Police said Wednesday night that the girl in the video was found safe. She and the "person of interest" know each other, according to police, and no charges are expected to be filed.
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