Mercer Island parents urge child luring stranger danger talk

Parents urging others to talk about stranger danger

Prosecutors say a man tried luring two kids with a stuffed animal, and their parents say they're proud of their kids' quick actions.

MERCER ISLAND, Wash. - It’s been two months since investigators said Mohammad Ajoly was in a Mercer Island neighborhood and tried to lure two kids into his car.

Court documents detail how the suspect opened the driver’s side door and waved a stuffed panda, gesturing for the 9-year-old to come to him.

"It was the worst parent nightmare," Rodolfo Hernandez Mcintyre said.

For him and his wife Shannon, what happened that day is top of mind every day.

"A stranger trying to get your kid in the car, that’s the fear," Rodolfo Hernandez Mcintyre said.

The couple’s 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter were playing outside when that car pulled up. Their son ran inside and told Shannon what happened. She immediately ran outside.

"He was showing her the stuffed toy and inviting her to come closer and at that moment I knew, and I screamed to her and she came running," Shannon Hernandez Mcintyre said. On Thursday, Ajoly, who is from Jordan, pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted kidnapping. "This case is an unfortunate and understandable misunderstanding based on cultural differences," Ajoly’s attorney said in court.

"In what culture is that okay, I’m Mexican American, we give gifts to other kids and there’s a way to do it, they go through the parents not a stranger in the street going to the child," Rodolfo Hernandez Mcintyre said.

They are proud of their kids for doing the right thing and want to bring awareness to other parents because they know this could have ended very differently. "It’s horrible just to think about it," Rodolfo Hernandez Mcintyre said. They’re now urging all parents to not just talk about stranger danger, but also practice.

"The same way you practice for an earthquake, we practice with our kids," Rodolfo Hernandez Mcintyre said.

"We were surprised that it happened to us. At the same time, I think the message is, it could happen to anyone at any time and anywhere. I think the message is education and vigilance is so important," Shannon Hernandez Mcintyre said.

The parents told FOX 13, after this happened, their kids had nightmares. They say it also led to good, open family conversations.