Man Stops Suspect From Taking Girl in Bauru, Brazil

On a quiet street in Bauru, in the countryside of São Paulo, another story of courage unfolds.

That morning, William dropped his son off at school and as he was driving down this street, he saw something that caught his attention.

A man was grabbing a girl. He didn't hesitate and stopped the car.

Was it here, William? That's right, this is where it happened, right?

The suspect, look there, he's going after her.

Look, she's with her friend and he looks, he grabs her by the arm and takes her off somewhere.

And her friend just stands there not understanding what's going on.

As soon as I stopped the car here, when I confronted him, when I asked the girl you know, if everything was okay, that's when he stepped off the sidewalk here and came straight at me.

Then he tried to intimidate me, saying he knew the girl and all that.

Then I call the girl back. Then she comes back, and I ask again if she knew him.

She said she didn't. Then she leaves again, crying, until at a certain point, he comes to try to attack me.

Then we had to defend ourselves. Pretty much the last street in the neighborhood.

There's nothing but brush down there. So there was a good chance something could happen, right?

The suspect's name is Vitor Antônio. He was arrested in the act for attempting to rape a vulnerable person.

Now, when you stopped the car, did you get out without thinking about the consequences, or the risks you were facing?

Without thinking. I acted on instinct, you know. We're parents, you know.

When I saw that child there, my instinct was to get her out of that situation, you know.

The right thing would be to keep an eye on them from a distance, from somewhere safe, and call the police.

We can understand that he was driven by a protective instinct, right, because the girl was so vulnerable, and he'd just dropped his child off at school, at the same school the victim attends.

William owns a small takeout shop and personally makes some of the deliveries.

After he was recognized as the hero of Bauru, sales doubled.

A hero, huh, sir? And with every order that comes in, there's also a message of thanks, affection, and respect.

"How wonderful, God put you there when you were needed."

We didn't do anything to make ourselves look good.

Some people wanted to offer money, a car, everything.

I said, "No, folks, goodness gracious."