8-year-old girl uses pencil to fight off attempted kidnapper, New Jersey cops say

An 8-year-old girl managed to get away from an attempted kidnapper with the help of a pencil, New Jersey officials said.

On March 19, Berlin police officers responded after the girl told staff at John F. Kennedy Elementary School that while she was walking to school, a stranger came up from behind her and tried to grab her, according to a Facebook post by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

After she escaped, she ran the rest of the way to school, officials said.

The girl said fought him off with a pencil she was carrying, stabbing him in the face, prosecutors said.

The man was wearing black clothes and a baseball cap, officers said.

Investigators believe he’ll have a facial injury because of the stabbing. The girl was not injured in the incident.

Anyone with information about the attempted kidnapping is asked to call 856-952-7460, the release said.

Camden County is about a 30-mile drive southwest of Trenton.

This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 11:24 AM with the headline "8-year-old girl uses pencil to fight off attempted kidnapper, New Jersey cops say."