SmokeyTheBear

Some dude kidnaps a 5 year old girl playing with her sisters on christmas day.
Some other dudes rob & murder a father in front of his 3 young children on christmas eve.
Another dude robs & shoots an old man in the face , killing him on christmas eve in a popeys chicken parking lot

PHOENIX ? A patrol officer spotted a suspected kidnapper's car and aided in the rescue of a 5-year-old girl, who was found uninjured in what police are calling Phoenix's "Christmas miracle."

Natalie Flores was rescued at about 9:30 p.m. Friday, more than seven hours after she was scooped up by a stranger while playing with her sisters outside their Phoenix apartment building.

"She is alive and well," police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill said.

Hill credited a "very alert" policeman with taking quick action after spotting what appeared to be the suspect's vehicle driving on a west Phoenix avenue, even though the license plate differed from reports.

Officer Mike Burns pulled alongside and "saw a suspect that matched the description and thought he saw a small child," Hill told The Associated Press.

He said the pickup sped off, and Burns gave chase and alerted the force. Officers put spike strips across the road several blocks away that punctured the suspect's tires, causing him to crash on the roadside.

The man took off on foot but was caught and arrested a block away after a brief struggle.

"She is alive and well thanks to the timely diligence of officer Burns," Hill said. "It is rare in stranger abduction cases so much time can pass without a tragic ending. This was truly a Christmas miracle."

Police said the suspect is a 45-year-old man, but they haven't released his name and or any other details.

Hill said the man was being questioned by police and held on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault on a police officer and felony pursuit.

The sergeant said Natalie appeared to be in good shape but was being examined by health officials.

Police received the call that Natalie had been taken at about 2:15 p.m. An Amber Alert was issued, and authorities began combing the area on foot, by car and with helicopters.

Hill said the child had been playing in a common area at the apartment complex with her two sisters, ages 7 and 9, when a man parked his brown pickup in a nearby parking lot and walked over to them carrying a camera.

"He physically grabbed the 7-year-old girl and forcibly took a photo of her," Hill said.

The man then forced Natalie into the truck and drove away. Witnesses reported that as the man was fleeing, he hit a parked car before entering southbound 19th Avenue.

Natalie and her sisters had been staying at an apartment in the complex with an aunt who has legal custody of them, Hill said. The girls' parents live separately out of state.

After the abduction, Natalie's older sister went to a neighbor's apartment and pounded on the door, The Arizona Republic reported. The woman who answered, Donna Reed, said the girl was carrying a ball and appeared to be shaking.

"She said some man just took her little sister," Reed told the newspaper. "She was a nervous wreck."

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? A Salvation Army worker was shot and killed Christmas Eve in front of his three young children during an attempted robbery outside the charity's community center in North Little Rock, a Salvation Army official said Friday.

North Little Rock police said they were looking for the two men who accosted Salvation Army Maj. Philip Wise outside the community center about 4:15 p.m. Thursday. No arrests have been made.

The two men fled on foot into a nearby housing development, police Sgt. Terry Kuykendall said Friday. Police don't know whether Wise, who was active in the community, knew his attackers, he said.

Wise, 40, had gone to the community center with his children to pick up his wife ? also a Salvation Army major ? to drive to his mother's home in West Virginia, said Maj. Harvey Johnson, area commander of the Salvation Army. As Wise neared the side door, two men approached.

Both men were carrying hand guns, police said. One demanded money and shot Wise, Pulaski County Coroner Garland Camper told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Wise's wife, Cindy, was inside the center and called 911.

Blood stained the sidewalk outside the center Friday.

The Wises had just adopted their children ? ages 4, 6 and 8 ? last year, Johnson said. The three were siblings who came from an abusive family. They were receiving counseling after their father's death, he said.

Kuykendall said the children were standing beside their father when he was shot, but there was apparently no interaction between the youngsters and the two men.

Wise had worked for three years in Baring Cross, a low-income neighborhood troubled by gangs and drugs, Johnson said. He ran youth programs, a food pantry and church services.

"He was involved in the fabric of that community in a lot of different ways," Johnson said.

He described Wise as "a big boy" who played "a big old tuba" in a brass ensemble and used his love of music to try help others.

"He encouraged kids in music as an alternative to the life they were living," he said.

Kuykendall said he knew Wise, although they were not close friends.

"Mr. Wise within the last two months had spent so much time raising money so that several hundred children in this community could have a good Christmas, and for this to happen ... on Christmas Eve is just a tragedy," he said.

Wise was originally from Weirton, W.Va., and his wife, Cindy, was from Charleston, W.Va. They met 16 years ago at a Salvation Army school in Atlanta, Johnson said. Both had worked for the Salvation Army ever since.

"He's touched a lot of people," Johnson said. "But who would he have touched if he had been able to live out his career?"

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Police have arrested a suspect in a shocking Christmas Eve murder.

Lee Cration, 48, has been charged with first degree murder and attempted armed robbery in the shooting death of Ralph Elliott at the parking lot of a Popeye's Chicken restaurant on Christmas Eve. Cration had been wanted by police for an outstanding parole violation.

Elliott, 79, was gunned down Thursday night while picking up food for his family's party. CBS 2'S Suzanne Le Mignot reports on a senseless shooting and the death of a man who helped so many.

"He was my friend, my lover and then my husband and he's been my friend for 54 years," Elliott's wife, Dolores Elliott said. She said her husband was also her soul mate.

On Christmas Eve, Ralph Elliot was heading to the Popeye's Fried Chicken restaurant at 818 E. 47th St. He was picking up food for an extended family gathering. He and his wife have hosted the celebration for more than 50 years.

Police said Cration, a convicted felon, followed Elliott to his car. That's when police Cration allegedly shot Elliott in the face and then rummaged through the elderly man's pockets before running away.

"Violence bespeaks violence and a gentle man, who would have given him anything, there was no reason to kill him," Dolores Elliott said. "On the eve of the birth of Christ, you take a life. This is a time when love and relationship, is what this season is about. So my family has lost, but the person who did this also lost."

"The only thing that's sustaining me at this point, and has continued to sustain me and my family, is our faith in God," she added.

Dolores Elliott said her husband lived to make a difference in everyone's life.

Ralph Elliott's godson, Bill Grant, said, "When I was born, I had some problems with one of my kidneys. I was born at Northwestern (Memorial Hospital) and I had to be transferred to Michael Reese and he and my godmother, you know, rather than waiting for an ambulance, got me there. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

Dolores Elliott said her husband always wanted things to be perfect for his loved ones. He spent more than three hours adorning the Christmas tree with decorations and lights for the family this year.

After retiring from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, Elliott spent his time fishing off Hilton Head and playing chess.

"I always learned something from him, while we playing chess, he'd talk to me, while he was beating me of course," His nephew, Lawrence Moppins said. "He was an amazing man. He truly was and he truly cared, in his very subtle way, the way he carried himself, he was exemplary of all men, and he's going to be truly missed."

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