NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro police say Levi Combs tried to abduct three children, and it might have happened if Andrea Dean, a mother to one of the children, did not intervene.
Now the suspect is behind bars, thanks to Dean. She confronted the man as he stalked young girls at a school bus stop.
The morning of Thursday, Dec. 30, three young students were waiting for a school bus on Bell Road outside an apartment complex. The oldest of the three noticed a man lurking nearby suspiciously and called her mother. That made all the difference.
"She called me and said, 'Mom, there's a man chasing me'," Dean said.
Dean then rushed out of her apartment, still barefoot.
"It was very scary. When it comes to my kids I'm coming full force," she said.
Dean immediately spotted Combs leaning against a railing. One of the young girls shot video of Dean confronting Combs.
"I saw him taking steps toward three girls. So I am yelling out, 'Who are you? What do you want?'" Dean explained.
Dean says Combs claimed to be waiting for his kids, but she knew only the three girls used this stop.
She then asked again what he wanted with the girls.
Combs gestured to his white BMW and said, "I just want to talk to them in the car."
Dean says it was bizarre — Combs spoke matter-of-factly about the situation, and then ignored here and kept staring at the girls.
"He just watched them, and I didn't exit anymore — he just looked at them. That's when I called the police," Dean said.
The bus came, and the girls left safely. Dean then took photos of Combs and his car as he drove away. Those photos, and another of him pulled over urinating on the side of the road, were posted to social media.
A short time later, Combs was spotted lurking near a daycare in Thompson Station.
Thanks to the photos, Dean is glad police were quickly able to make an arrest. See the photos in the player above.
"He's looking for children. I just want to make sure to keep everyone else's kids safe and let them be aware," said Dean.
It turns out Combs lives about a mile from the bus stop.
The 31-year-old has been charged with three counts of attempted kidnapping and three counts of assault. He is being held on a $51,000 bond.
There are still so many families in East Tennessee hurting following the floods from Hurricane Helene in September. That made this year's running of the Santa Train extra special for many families in the northeast part of the state. This special Santa Express has been making an annual run in part of Appalachia for over 80 years.
-Lelan Statom
