Kidnapping Thwarted by Girl's Kung Fu Punch

A would-be kidnapper got more than he bargained for after snatching a girl from her bed Sunday. Authorities say a man broke into a home in El Cajon, Calif., through an unlocked window, then grabbed an 8-year-old girl from her upstairs bedroom. Unbeknownst to her attacker, the girl knew kung fu. She tells KGTV she awoke in the man's arms as he carried her downstairs and punched him in the neck with what's known as the leopard or cheetah paw.

"It hurt him," the girl tells NBC San Diego. The man dropped the girl and fled as she ran to get her parents, per KTRK. Authorities arrived around 4am and searched the surrounding area with police dogs but didn't find the suspect, who "smelled like garbage" and may have been homeless, per KTVU. He's described as 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, with tanned skin and dark "fluffy" hair. Police plan to run fingerprints from a hand smear on the window of a neighboring home. (More California stories.)