Butler County deputy credited with foiling alleged kidnapping attempt

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — An alert Butler County deputy sheriff interrupted the alleged attempted abduction of a 15-year-old girl at 7 p.m. Sunday, according to Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs.

"Deputy James Skinner was in the right place at the right time," Dobbs said Monday.

Howard Brown Jr., 52, was arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnapping, driving while intoxicated and driving with a revoked license, according to Dobbs. Brown was booked in the Butler County Jail.

"My daughter was really, really shook up. If deputy Skinner had not been there, I don't know what would have happened to my daughter," said Misty Robinson, the mother of Jessica Uetrecht. "There is no way I can thank him enough for what he has done. I thank God for him being there."

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher filed the felony charge of attempted kidnapping against Brown. He recommended bond be set at $25,000 cash or surety.

Skinner was driving on Pine Street at North River Road when he saw a male driver pass a girl on a bicycle.

"The driver pulled off to the side of the roadway and exited the vehicle. He stepped in front of the bicycle and reached toward the handlebars. It appeared he grabbed the handlebars of the bicycle," Skinner stated in his probable-cause statement. "The female made an attempt to drive the bicycle around Mr. Brown and he once again grabbed for the handlebars of the bicycle."

After making a U-turn and while exiting his patrol vehicle, Skinner observed the man removing his hands from the bicycle and the girl rode away.

Skinner said that when he asked for Brown's driver's license, he said, "I don't need a driver's license. I wasn't driving."

While preparing to charge Brown with driving under the influence and driving while revoked, Robinson and her daughter arrived in a car.

Skinner said the mother "was frantic and wanted to know what was going to happen to the man that just tried to get my daughter."

The girl said she was riding her bicycle to a store to buy bread.

Skinner said the girl reported the man "grabbed my bicycle and told me to get into the car."

The girl did not know Brown, and Brown did not know the girl, according to the report.

While being interviewed by Dobbs, Brown said he stopped his car to ask the girl "if she needed a ride." Brown admitted he was "looking for a woman to pick up" and said he had "picked up a lot of girls like that."

Dobbs said Brown also admitted to having a conversation with the girl about getting into his car and about putting her bicycle in his car.

"She said nothing when asked to get in the car," Dobbs said. "He believed from her silence that she did not want to get in the car with him."