Cops: Woman Mouths 'Help Me' at Police Stop, Is Rescued

Thanks to a traffic stop made by an observant officer, police say a South Carolina woman is safe and her passenger, a suspect in an attempted murder, is under arrest. Citing a Facebook post from the Myrtle Beach Police Department, USA Today reports that officer Kayla Wallace pulled over a white Jeep that ran a red light. Wallace observed that the driver appeared to be "distressed" and mouthed the words "help me" when her male passenger wasn't looking. CBS News reports that Wallace put the male, identified as 29-year-old Collins Bates, in the back of her cruiser and returned to the driver, who said Bates had forced her to drive him at gunpoint after he allegedly shot someone.

Shortly afterward, a Be On the Lookout advisory, or BOLO, came over the police radio describing a man fitting Bates' description who was involved in a shooting. He was placed under arrest, reports WBTW, and charged with kidnapping, possessing a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, and attempted murder. No details were provided about the person who had been shot. The arresting officer was commended in the department's Facebook post, which said in part, "our community is lucky to have Officer Wallace." (More crime stories.)