As a Michigan teen enjoyed a peaceful walk in her serene Midwest neighborhood, an unexpected encounter with a stranger in a dark vehicle turned her day into a nightmare.
The 14-year-old was ambling along a Kentwood street—located about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Detroit—on May 12 when a car abruptly halted beside her, as reported by local authorities.
Captured by surveillance cameras, John Moore, aged 29, is seen swiftly emerging from the driver’s side and aggressively lunging at the young girl.
The released footage, which obscures the victim to safeguard her identity, ends just before Moore makes contact, leaving the attack unseen.
Police alleged that Moore ‘physically assaulted’ the girl and attempted to confine her as she strolled along the sidewalk, as stated in an official report.
The girl fought Moore off and gave him minor injuries before he fled in his car, law enforcement added.
Moore also allegedly attacked a 66-year-old woman within the previous hour and a half.
The senior citizen was working in her yard on Poinsettia Avenue SE when Moore stopped his vehicle and made ‘unwanted advances’ towards her before physically assaulting her, the Kentwood Police Department said.
Surveillance video showed how John Moore, 29, allegedly assaulted a 14-year-old girl in Kentwood, Michigan, about two and a half hours west of Detroit, on May 12
Moore has been charged with assault and battery and unlawful imprisonment in connection with the incident, as well as another that day
Detectives identified Moore as the suspect in the two alleged assaults after interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage.
He was arrested within 24 hours and taken to the Kent County Correctional Facility in Grand Rapids.
Moore has been charged with assault and battery, as well as unlawful imprisonment.
As of Wednesday evening, Moore was still in custody at the jail.
In addition to the two charges related to the alleged attacks on May 12, Kent County Sheriff’s Office records showed that Moore had also been charged with two probation violations.
His total bond for the four charges was set at $140,000.
Moore had been sentenced to probation last summer for recording upskirt videos in September 2023 and then grabbing women at Meijer stores about a year and a half later, according to WOODTV8.
In the first incident, a woman found out what Moore was doing when she looked up from the toilet and spotted him looking down at her from the next stall over, the outlet reported.
Moore had also apparently recorded an inappropriate video in the store’s common area, which was caught on surveillance footage.
The Kentwood Police Department claimed Peterson physically assaulted a 66-year-old woman in the hour and a half before he allegedly attacked the teenage girl
Moore was taken to the Kent County Correctional Facility, where he remains in custody
Last year, Moore was reported for walking around a Meijer store, telling female customers they had a spider on their backs, then grabbing their behinds.
His conduct was reported by three women, Kent County prosecutor Chris Becker told WOODTV8.
Moore was sentenced to time served for the six months of jail he had already done and given three years of probation last August.
He was also ordered to register as a sex offender, the outlet reported.
At his sentencing, Moore’s then-public defender, Laura Joyce, described him as kind, gentle and patient.
‘I don’t think these crimes are reflective of the person that he is,’ Joyce said. ‘I think that he’s had a reckoning while he’s been in jail regarding some potential substance abuse issues that he has to handle.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Kentwood Police Department for further comment.
It was not immediately clear if Moore had obtained representation to face his latest charges.