Warren cop to be honored for saving abducted child

Warren cop to be honored for saving abducted child

WARREN

Ben Harrell, the Warren patrolman who found the stolen car containing an abducted 3-year-old Niles boy Oct. 12, will be honored Wednesday by Warren City Council.

When Harrell woke up Oct. 12, he learned on Facebook that Michael Babuka III had been abducted overnight from a house on John Street in Niles, causing an Amber Alert to be issued.

Harrell went to work early and learned that Ross Francis, 42, of Niles had been involved in a scuffle at a Warren Township trailer park earlier the night of the abduction and drove to the area before his work 7 a.m. work shift began.

He spotted the stolen car and arrested Francis at gunpoint, then found the abducted boy in the back seat, scared but safe.

Niles City Council honored Harrell at a council meeting earlier this month.

The boy’s father had left the boy in the back of the car while he went into a house on John Street to retrieve another child.

Police say they believe it’s possible Francis didn’t know there was a child in the back when he took the car.