José de Jesús Santoyo Aguilar is an Uber driver, but on the morning of Wednesday, January 14, he became a hero. He never imagined that, during his trip along Malaquita Street in the Rizos de la Joya neighborhood, northwest of León, Guanajuato, he would come across a chilling scene: a teenage girl in a high school uniform, covered in blood, after being attacked with a knife.
The girl had wounds on her neck and right hand. It was around 7:20 a.m. when José, who spoke with MILENIO, was on his way to his first fare and saw the girl sitting on a bench, covered in blood.
Without hesitation, he got out of his vehicle to help her. A neighbor informed him that he had already reported the incident to 911, but the ambulance had not yet arrived.
Given the severity of the injuries and the risk that the 13-year-old girl would bleed to death, José, 40, decided to put her in his car and take her himself to the Las Joyas Community Hospital, located a few kilometers away.
While driving to the hospital, José noticed a man in his early twenties walking in the area with bloodstains on his clothes.
He stopped his car and asked him directly:
“Did you see the girl sitting there?”
The man seemed nervous, didn’t answer, and started running. Surprised by his reaction, José returned to his vehicle.
The girl, who could barely speak due to her shock, confirmed with a nod and managed to say, “It was him,” identifying the man who had sexually assaulted her moments before.
The arrest of the alleged assailant
Without hesitation, José began the pursuit while requesting assistance from the authorities via his cell phone. The man managed to take refuge in a nearby tire shop that was open, where he tried to hide in a back room.
José stayed outside guarding the shop, while the girl remained in the car, seriously injured.
Minutes later, municipal police officers arrived, entered the shop, and arrested the man, identified as the alleged assailant of the high school student.
