It sounds like the plot from a horror movie. A young girl agrees to babysit a toddler only to find herself under siege by an unknown maniac. It wasn’t a movie however when it happened the Boyes Hot Springs community nestled in swanky Sonoma Valley where a young babysitter acquitted herself heroically:

(02-17) 19:26 PST Boyes Hot Springs — A babysitter appears to have thwarted the kidnapping of the 3-year-old child in her care when she fought a man who opened the screen door of her apartment and grabbed the toddler, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department.

The man, identified by sheriff’s deputies as Normando Zamora Ramirez, 24, of Boyes Hot Springs, entered the apartment in the 100 block of Boyes Blvd., near Boyes Hot Springs on Friday at about noon.

Authorities said Ramirez grabbed the little girl, ripping her sweater, and when the babysitter intervened, he grabbed her and dragged her out of the apartment by her hair.

Ramirez also forced the child out of the apartment and as he struggled with the babysitter, a neighbor heard her cries for help and ran over to help, deputies said.

The neighbor detained the suspect, who appeared to be drunk or on drugs, until deputies arrived and arrested him. Ramirez was jailed on suspicion of attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, burglary and child abuse.

The girl was not hurt but the babysitter, who was not identified, was treated by paramedics for minor abrasions, deputies said.

This young woman is a hero and I hope the 3 year old’s parents realize how lucky they are to have her as friend of the family. At the very least she deserves a raise.