Dramatic video captured the moment when a New York mother rushed to rescue her teenage daughter from a stalker who had slipped into their apartment building, the New York Post reports.
The doorbell camera footage shows a masked 25-year-old George Vassiliou attacking the victim as she returns to her family’s fourth-floor Queens apartment on the morning of January 23.
The 18-year-old victim screamed as Vassiliou dragged her out of frame and down a hallway, but within seconds, the teen’s mother can be seen darting out of the unit.
“I’ve never heard my daughter scream like that,” Adriana Alvarez told the Post. “I thought maybe the dog had run downstairs, but I step out to see my daughter being dragged away.”
Alvarez, 35, fought with Vassiliou as he tried to flee the building, at one point striking her in the face and then unleashing pepper spray on both women.
The mother and daughter eventually were able to break free from Vassiliou and neighbors helped them, including a man who held down the would-be kidnapper until police officers responded.
Investigators determined that Vassiliou previously worked with the teenage victim. He would allegedly stare at the teen, which she said made her feel uncomfortable. After Vassiliou asked the teen out on a date and she declined, he allegedly quit and began stalking her.
Alvarez alleged that Vassiliou had tried to grab her daughter twice on the street in previous interactions, prompting the mother and daughter to seek a restraining order.
Vassiliou reportedly had rented a vehicle and parked it outside the apartment building the night before the attack. Police found rope, tampons and sleeping pills inside the car, and Vassiliou also had a knife on him.
“He had this all planned out,” Alvarez told the Post. “Where was he going to take my baby?”
Vassiliou faces numerous charges, including attempted kidnapping, assault, and possession of a weapon. He is behind bars on $50,000 bail.
Alvarez dislocated a shoulder, fractured an orbital socket and broke an elbow during the horrific ordeal. A family member started a GoFundMe to help cover medical expenses.
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[Feature Photo: Adriana Alvarez/GoFundMe]
