A 16-year-old girl walking to a school bus stop fought off a man trying to abduct her Thursday morning and police arrested him after a high-speed chase.

  • Police: Man tried to abduct 16-year-old girl near bus stop
  • Girl fought off man, bit him, police chief says
  • Jonathan Buchanan in custody at Ponce Inlet Police Department

According to the Ponce Inlet police chief, the girl was walking on Peninsula Drive at about 6 a.m. when 26-year-old Jonathan Buchanan tried talking to the girl, got out of his car and put his hands on her.

The girl fought off the man and bit his hand.

Police said Buchanan took off and after a chase during which speeds reached 70 mph, he was arrested by Daytona Beach Shores Police in a restaurant parking lot on Dunlawton Boulevard.

Police said inside the four-door Buick LeSabre that Buchanan was driving they found a teddy bear and some kind of lotion.

“She just tried to walk away. He grabbed her hand. When she tried to pull away, he then grabbed her, wrapped one hand around her waist, another hand around her mouth and tried to drag her into his car," Police Chief Frank Fabrizio said. "She started trying to get away, bit at his hand, broke free, started screaming. That's when he ran back to his car.”

Tracey and Tom Conley live near the bus stop.

“It’s a mom’s, all parents', single or together — it’s everybody’s worst nightmare,” Tracey Conley said.

Buchanan would not answer any questions as he was led to the Volusia County Branch Jail, charged with attempted kidnapping and assault. Police said he was uncooperative and needed a court order to see his hands, which they think had wounds from either from the girl’s teeth or braces when he put his hand over her mouth.

Buchanan lives in Port Orange and police said he may have tried to abduct other women in the area. Police are looking at a report in Ormond Beach where he allegedly tried having sex with a young girl there. But he was never arrested because police there said he never stepped out of his car to make physical contact.

The girl is shaken up but otherwise OK, police said. Police said they would increase patrols at bus stops.


Ponce Inlet Police Chief Frank Fabrizio briefs the media on an attempted abduction of a teen girl Thursday morning as she walked to a school bus stop. (News 13)