How i almost got kidnapped in a parking garage

This happened to me last year when i was 17 and still in highschool. I live in a large german city. It was a wednesday morning and it was about 7:30 am. My parents decided i could drive to school by myself since i was allowed to drive a car by myself for a while now. At that time i still had to be 17 and a half to be allowed to drive alone. I had my driving license for two month when this happened. I am not sure if my story fits this sub because it is not about a weird person but rather about a crime. If this doesnt fit, please tell me. I will delete this post then.<br><br>So i parked my car in the parking garage of the mall nearby. You can enter the garage through a large door on the left side of the mall and there is a barrier / tollgate. I dont know how to call it in english. I am german myself. There are big letters on the barrier saying " Tickets ". You have to take the ticket to open the barrier. After that you can go into the garage / mall and can park your car. <br><br>At that time there were already about 20 cars in the garage. I got my ticket and placed it on my passenger seat because i dont collect them like some people do. I dont know why you should do this. So i looked where i can park my car and tried to find a place as close to the elevator / stairs as possible. There were only a few parking places near the elevator. I saw a young woman at about 25 years park her car at the exact same time. She placed her car directly next to mine. I got my backpack and walked to the elevator. So did the woman. We didnt talk at the beginning but i said "hi" to her because i grew up in a world where you are nice and respectful to other people. She answered with saying " hi ". <br><br>During the elevator ride we talked a little bit. Nothing special. School stuff. She was in her second year at a german university and was studying law. So she was going to be a lawyer and i had to go to school. i told her i was going to school and she said " nice ". She asked how school is. If i like it etc. She was very friendly and i thought she was nice. I know it was a little bit weird to have such a deep conversation with a stranger but i was still young and did not know how to behave in situations like this. Yes, i was a shy kid and still am. When we were done talking about school she asked me if i could tell her where the mall was. I said i am going in the same direction so i can show her the way. She thanked me for that. We walked through the mall together and talked about random stuff i dont really remember till we reached the entrance of the mall. She thanked me for the help and told me to have a good day at school. I wished her the same and told her i will be late so i had to go. I turned right because left was the way to school. I also turned because i wanted to look after her. She also turned left and looked after me. I dont know if she waved but i waved to say goodbye. <br><br>I walked into the direction of the parking garage because i wanted to go to my car and drive to school. So i walked into the complete opposite direction of where school was. I was about 5 min away from the entrance of the mall. I was still thinking about what woman i just met. I dont really know why. I guess i felt a bit scared. I dont really know why i should be scared. Yes, i am a young woman but i am tall and i am not skinny. I should be able to defend myself if anything happens. So i walked for about 3 min. I was looking on my phone because i wanted to listen to some music. I should have been more focused on my surroundings. I didnt hear anything. I heard nothing. Just silence. Thats how it was until i felt a hand over my mouth. I was so shocked. I couldnt scream. I couldnt run. I couldnt do anything. Something held me really tight and i couldnt move. I wanted to scream but i couldnt because that hand was over my mouth. I also was to scared to do anything. i looked to the left and right to see if i can see someone but there was no one. i thought i was going to die. I thought i was going to be kidnapped, tortured and eventually killed. i felt the grip around me getting tighter. That was the point where i was so scared i couldnt think about anything. I dont know why i did it but my hands were on the backpack i was carrying. I still had my backpack with me because i forgot it at the mall. I felt the grip getting tighter. All of a sudden, the grip was gone. I looked at the floor and saw a young man lying on the floor. He was screaming in pain. I looked up and saw an old man with a long walking stick. He looked like he was in his 70s. He started to beat the young man with the walking stick. i was so shocked. the only thing i could do was run. I ran in the direction of the mall and didnt look over my shoulder. <br><br>I looked over my shoulder when i was in the mall. The young man was running in my direction and the old man was running after him. I was so scared i couldnt think about anything else. I wanted to call the police but i didnt know how to open my backpack. So i was panicking. I changed my direction and walked to the mall security. I told them the whole story. They called the police and they let me wait in a back room. i told the police everything i knew. i described the young man. they told me he was probably a slave dealer / human trafficker. The old man who saved me eventually came to the mall security and told the police what happened. he saw me getting held by a man. He said it was a man maybe in his mid 20s. he was about 2 meters tall and had short blond hair. So the young man. The old man told the police that he walked to where the young man was holding me and hit him with his walking stick. He said the young man was carrying a long bag / backpack. He said it was made out of black fabric. The police wanted to know if the old man saw where the young man ran to. The old man told them where he ran to. The police than let me go home and told me to take the day off school. i drove home where my mother and father awaited me. They asked me what happened and i told them the whole story from the beginning to the end. My mother was crying i am still alive and said she cant imagine to lose me. Yes, i am kinda their baby. i am their only daughter and i have 4 brothers. They asked me if i was okay. i said i was okay and not sad or anything. i was more shocked than anything else and i think it was because i was still young and it was the first time something like that happened to me. <br><br>I told them i had to go to the police station tomorrow to answer more questions. They said they will come with me. So they did. The police told me that they found out who the young man was. They told me his name. It was something with H. i dont really remember. He was a 27 years old man who was accused of human trafficking / slave trading before. He was never in jail because there was no evidence that he really did something like that. The police told me that they are trying to arrest him again. They said he has no family. So i think he is alone. The police said he probably was going to kill me if the old man didnt save me. So i owe my life to the old man. i really wanna meet him again and thank him for what he did for me. i probably never will meet him again though. I still think about him everyday. i dont know why but i think i am really thankful to him. <br><br>I am 18 now so it has been a while. i am still thinking about what would have happened if the old man didnt save me. i probably would have been dead or kidnapped and i probably would have never seen my parents again. i should probably be more thankful to the old man but i just forgot about the whole thing because i am busy with school and family. i will probably never forget about it though.<br><br>Edit: i did what some of you said in the comments. I gave it to a german crime fighting TV show and internet page. They helped me find out who the old man was so we could meet again. the woman is fake. She was probably working with the young guy. i got to meet the old man who saved me again and his name is Helmut. He even invited me to his birthday party. I went there with my parents. He has 4 kids / adult children and about 8 grandkids he is taking care of. i think only his daughter lives nearby so she could give him a ride to the mall. i am so happy i could meet him again. im also happy i could meet his family. im so thankful for him.