Pennyback Park Victim: I Thought I Was Going to Die

Kristy Calderone said the moment she walked across the street to talk to a man who said he was a police officer, she knew something was wrong.

“He asked me about a dog.  Then when I crossed over he said ‘we’re here because we don’t believe the child is yours,’” said Calderone.

Calderon, who spoke exclusively to NBC 10’s Monique Braxton, said around 4:40 p.m. Thursday afternoon she took her daughter for a walk along the 8500 block of Algon Street in the Bustleton section of the city.

She said it was then that the suspect tried to pull her into Pennyback park.

“His hand came from behind but he keep pressing on the jugular so he started to make everything real blurry and then everything turned black for a minute, “ said Calderon.

She said the man dragged her about 12 to 13 feet into the woods and spoke quietly as if nothing happened.

“I thought I was going to die or get raped,” said Calderon.

Calderon said the screams of her 20-month old daughter Christina made her regain consciousness. She managed to break free, grab her daughter and ran home to her husband.

“I heard her scream, grabbed a baseball bat and ran through the woods to see if I could find him,” said James Calderon.

Philadelphia police are still searching for the suspect who Calderon described as a white man in his 30’s to 40’s with a buzz haircut.  She said he is 200 pounds and about 5’11.

“Every time I get upset about it, I just try to think I am lucky I made it,” said Calderone.