Sherae Honeycutt

Spring break has been very busy for me. Many people spend their spring break doing something fun like going on vacation, or getting some downtime to themselves. I’ve been doing something I think is fun — spending time in the newsroom. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go out in the filed with Allie Rasmus. I’ve been waiting for the right day to go out with her for quite a while, and Tuesday was the day.

I started my morning off early and was actually at the station for the morning news. Most people don’t think about it, but while there are different reporters for the morning shift, there is a whole other staff! I got to meet a bunch of new and different people who was a lot of fun.

When Allie came in for her shift she let me know that today we would be covering new footage that the Oakland Police was releasing to the public in hopes that they would be able to catch a man who attempted to kidnap a 9-year-old girl.

On March 25th the girl was playing in her front yard around 6:30pm when a man approached her and grabbed her in a “bear hug-like” manner. He began touching her inappropriately, and tried to carry her away from her home. The girl screamed. This allerted her family and neighbors who ran to her aid. This scared the man who fled on foot.There is concern that this attempted kidnapping is linked to a similar incident in November. A 14-year-old girl was attacked in the same fashion by a man matching the description in the recent case. He is possibly said to be the getaway driver in this case as the man who attacked her tried to push her into a waiting car. She was able to fight the man off, run home, and tell her parents what happened to her.

Oakland Police are offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the case.

Above you will find a package that I put together with the video that we collected and an interview with Johnna Watson, a representitive from the Oakland Police Department. This was definitely a learning experience for me. It felt great to go out in the field, work on the story, and then edit it together for a final product. Just another day as a KTVU intern.

KTVU’s coverage: Oakland police seek attempted kidnapping suspect