A Florida convenience store clerk called police and helped save a woman after he saw her mouth the word "help" from a car in the store's parking lot, according to police.
The woman was sitting in a car at a Kangaroo Express in Jacksonville just after 1 a.m. on Sunday, according to officials with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
After seeing the woman mouth "help," the clerk called 911 and gave police an accurate vehicle description, which was broadcast to all officers in the area, officials said.
Police said an officer saw the car on Atlantic Boulevard and tried to stop it. The driver fled from police and was arrested after the pursuit ended.
The woman was still in the car. She told police she was walking from one beach bar to another when the suspect, idenitfied as Jose Ramos Sandoval, pulled up and asked her if she needed a ride.
The woman told police she thought Sandoval was friends with a friend of hers, so she accepted the ride. She later realized she did not know him, according to sheriff officials.
The woman said once she was in the car, Sandoval started driving away from her destination.
They left the beaches area and pulled into the Kangaroo convenience store. When the woman tried to leave the car Sandoval reached over and grabbed her hair and stopped her from getting out, investigators said.
The woman told police she felt mouthing "help" to the Kangaroo employee was her only chance of escape.
Police officials said Sandoval admitted to the incident. He was arrested on accusations of false imprisonment, fleeing police and violation of probation.
The Sheriff's Office thanked the alert gas station clerk for his help in rescuing the woman.
"Getting involved makes a difference, we can't thank you enough," sheriff officials wrote on Facebook.
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