Fort Worth Police DepartmentNewly-released bodycam footage shows the moment police broke down a hotel door in Texas and dragged out a naked man suspected of kidnapping an eight-year-old girl.
The video, captured in May, was released by federal courts on Tuesday, November 19, and shows police officers in Fort Worth banging on the hotel door at WoodSprings Suites before ramming it down.
Their efforts were part of an investigation into the kidnapping of Salem Sabatka, who police said had been kidnapped in broad daylight by Michael Webb just hours before.
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In the footage, officers can be heard announcing their presence before shouting ‘Open the door!’. They successfully broke down the door before Webb, 51, ran out naked.
Police then entered the room and searched around for the young child, initially finding blood on the bed, before locating Salem in a laundry basket.
An officer then told his team, ‘here she is, we got her, we got her,’ as he picked up the eight-year-old girl, covered her in a towel and carried her out of the room. In the meantime, Webb was being apprehended by police.
Fort Worth Police DepartmentFort Worth police spokesperson Buddy Calzada told PEOPLE the little girl was abducted at approximately 6.40pm on Saturday, May 18, while out walking with her mother.
According to Calzada, a car approached the pair before a man grabbed Salem. Her mum attempted to jump inside the vehicle and rescue her daughter, but the man pushed her out and drove off.
Police were able to locate Webb when a family friend, Jeff King, located the vehicle described by Salem’s mother parked outside the WoodSpring Suites hotel after searching the streets for the young girl.
Officers were ‘on the scene immediately’, according to Calzada, who continued: ‘We connected with them so that [King] could point out the vehicle to us. Once he pointed out the vehicle, we felt that it was a solid lead and we investigated it further.’
Fort Worth Police DepartmentPolice entered the hotel room Webb was in at approximately 2.20am on Sunday, May 19, after they discovered blood on the passenger seat of the vehicle.
After discovering Salem in the laundry basket – something a Forest Hill police officer had previously missed when he searched the room at around midnight – the young girl was taken to a local hospital to be checked, and was later reunited with her family.
Webb was sentenced to life in federal prison for the kidnapping.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).