A New York City woman, Adriana Alvarez, was hospitalized after a traumatic event in January when her teenage daughter, Lex, was nearly abducted. The mother fearlessly chased the suspect down several stairs, as shown in a video.
The 18-year-old daughter was approaching her apartment when someone in a mask was seen jumping over a railing and quickly grabbing her from behind. Her distraught mother hurried out of the apartment, yelling for help.
Lex was coming home after a leisurely morning stroll with their two dogs to their 43rd Street apartment on the fourth floor when a former coworker tried to ambush her from behind. Vassiliou had been hiding and waiting for his opportunity.
A terrible struggle occurred over four flights of stairs between a 130-pound, 5-foot-4 determined mother and her muscular 6-foot-2, 230-pound opponent. Alvarez tried punching him, but it didn’t appear to be doing much good as he pulled Lex down the stairs with a determination to get to the building’s entrance.
In the fierce struggle, Alvarez shattered her elbow, dislocated his shoulder, and cracked his orbital socket, but she didn’t give up. She could no longer see well but struggled to break free from Vassiliou’s hold, pleading for help.
Gus Bougas, a neighbor, came out of his home and fought the culprit. The neighbor heard the shouts and ran out with a stick to start hitting him.
The mother and daughter managed to escape from Vassiliou and fled outdoors. Alvarez banged on her neighbor’s windows and yelled for someone to call 911 immediately.
Bougas is currently imprisoned on Riker’s Island with a $50,000 bond.
The night before the attempted abduction, Vassiliou rented a vehicle and parked it outside Alvarez’s building. Inside the car, authorities discovered a bag containing tampons, melatonin, sleeping pills, and rope, along with a knife. Alvarez, an aesthetician, claims that Vassiliou had planned his actions and had made two attempts to take her from the street before the incident forcibly.
Alvarez, a single mother, created a flyer alerting nearby women to flee if they came across Vassiliou, who they described as a potentially dangerous abductor.
