BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Jennie Levinson was shopping with her daughter in Northwest Bakersfield when they were approached by a store employee.
“The associate said, ‘Hey, you’re being followed. We’re going to have security escort you.’ And I said okay," she said.
They escorted Levinson and her 10-year-old daughter out but she didn’t want to go to her car. So they walked with security to the nearby Target while a man stayed close behind them.
“He came in shortly afterwards and reached around for my daughter. Obviously he didn’t touch her, because the lady was blocking him," she said. "He was saying that he needs her, her loves her, that he needs to protect her and she needs to go with him.”
Thanks to employees and security at the store, Levinson and her daughter weren’t physically harmed. The man who followed them in, 46-year-old Bryan Hooker, was arrested.
Her sister shared their story on social media in a post that garnered hundreds of comments and nearly 3,000 shares. Many comments sharing similar experiences at large shopping centers and fears of human trafficking.
While the idea of being abducted in a parking lot always stirs fears of human trafficking, those who work closely and investigate these kinds of crimes say that’s rarely the reality.
“When you’re talking about an attempted kidnapping you’re focused a lot on the intent of the person," said Deputy District Attorney Tyson McCoy. “Traffickers generally are very psychologically sophisticated.”
McCoy prosecutes human trafficking cases with the Kern County DA's Office. He says in most cases the perpetrator is usually known to the victim.
“Portraying themselves as a friend, a boyfriend, and win that person over to lure them into the trade rather than physically take them," he said.
For Levinson, while it was in fact a stranger who approached her and her daughter, it was also strangers who stepped in to help.
“I’m just so grateful for the people who helped. Those two associates and the manager, they were on top of it," she said.
