Police: Man Tried Kidnapping 2 Tacoma Girls

A man is accused of attempting to kidnap two children off a Tacoma street, but eyewitnesses and neighbors chased him down and beat him up.

Police found Billy Joe Shank lying on the ground and bleeding from his head when they were dispatched to South J Street in Tacoma on Saturday at about 7 p.m.

Moments earlier a 5-year-old girl ran into her home telling her mother that Shank tried to grab her. She was playing on the sidewalk outside her home when Shank allegedly approached her.

Tacoma police said Shank allegedly grabbed the girl and said “It’s time to go to bed,” but wasn’t able to grab her.

“I was about to run to my house, except for I scratched his arm,” the victim told KIRO 7 reporter Kevin McCarty. We are not revealing the identity of the girl or her family.

The girl’s brother was also there and was able to help his sister.

When asked what he did, the boy said, “Threw a bottle at him.”

Eyewitnesses told police that neighbors and family members of one of the girls went after Shank and beat him when he tried to escape.

Shank was found on the ground with a black eye and bleeding from his face when officers arrived.

After Shank was taken into custody, another woman came forward and said her daughter told her Shank also came up to her and said he was going to take her to bed, according to court documents.

The victim, also 5-years-old, was able to pull her arm away and Shank ran, the documents stated.

Police said 45-year-old Shank “appeared to be highly intoxicated” when he was arrested and was driving through the neighborhood near Tacoma General Hospital looking for victims.

His bail was set at $200,000.