Cleveland girl saves 6-year-old brother from abduction attempt

An 11-year-old Ohio girl is being hailed a hero after her family says she saved her younger brother from a kidnapping attempt outside their Cleveland home last week.

Julianne Moore was playing with her brother, 6-year-old Hayden, outside their house in the neighborhood of Old Brooklyn on May 23 when a man later identified as Pedro Luyando approached the pair and began speaking "gibberish" to them.

"He started to talk to us, but we really couldn't figure out what he was saying ... so we really didn't think much of it," Julianne told WJW.

Julianne said Luyando began to walk away but turned back and approached her brother, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him away from the yard.

Pictured: Pedro Luyando (Photo: Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office)

The 11-year-old said she quickly realized the situation was "serious" and sprang into action.

"I just grabbed my brother and went into the backyard because there was no time to panic," she told the station. "You just have to go with it."

The children's father, Joshua Moore, was alerted to the situation when his daughter came running into the yard dragging her brother and "screaming," claiming "a man tried to abduct Hayden." Moore ran to the front yard to check, when he spotted Luyando walking away from the scene.

"I said, 'Excuse me, did you touch my child?' And he just threw his arms out ... and continued walking," the father recalled. "At that point, I came back. My daughter was crying and upset, and we called police."

Luyando was arrested about a half a mile from the scene and was charged with abduction. At the time of his arrest, police found two unused condoms in his possession, WEWS reports.

Moore told the station he's thankful his daughter acted bravely during the distressing situation.

“She's my hero. She saved my son," he said. "I told everyone, I truly believe my son wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for her."