Teen Walking Dog Saves Kidnapped Man Heard Locked In Car's Trunk

A 17-year-old girl is being hailed a hero after she reportedly helped rescue a kidnapping victim from the trunk of a car after hearing his cries for help.

Kayla Rose was walking her dog in Irvington, New Jersey, on Thursday morning when she said she passed the parked car and heard strange noises coming from inside.

“I heard knocking and scratching on the trunk of the car, and I just backed up because I was scared,” Rose told WABC . “And then I heard it again. And then I said, ‘Hello.’ And he was like, ‘Hello, can anybody help me?’”

Kayla said she ran and told her mother about what she heard while also alerting neighbors to call 911.

One man said he grabbed a crowbar and tried to pop the locked trunk open but had no luck. Fortunately, the man trapped inside said that he could breathe so they waited until responding officers arrived.

The man was recovered from inside the car and taken to a hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, WABC reported.

According to police, the man was carjacked by two masked men at gunpoint around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. He was then driven to local banks and forced to withdraw cash.

JaVohn Berrouet, 24, of Irvington, was arrested on Friday and charged with first-degree carjacking, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, two first-degree weapons offenses, and three second-degree weapons offenses, acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan and Hillside Police Department Capt. Lashonda Burgess said in a press release .

A search of Berrouet’s home recovered a ski mask and a .45-caliber handgun, authorities said.

The case remains under investigation.