A 5-year-old girl was outside playing with her 7- and 9-year-old sisters in front of their apartment in Phoenix on Christmas afternoon. A man drove up in a brown Ford Ranger pickup and started taking pictures of them. He pulled down the 5-year-old's pants and then threw her into his truck.

The girl was crying and the suspect drove away so fast he hit a parked vehicle while trying to get away. Several witnesses heard the crash and described the vehicle and part of the license plate to police.

The Phoenix Police Department handles as many as 10,000 missing person cases a year, but Sergeant Bryan Chapman knew this was different. “A stranger abduction is very rare, and we got the ball rolling as quickly as possible,” said Chapman. An AMBER Alert was issued at 5:11 p.m.

Every on-call detective from every division was called in and patrol officers joined in the search. “I heard someone say they saw a uniformed officer on every corner,” said Chapman. “It's amazing the kind of response you get when a child is abducted.”

But Chapman was getting worried. Minutes were ticking by and few leads were coming in. “My heart and my concern were for this little girl,” he said. “There's an immense amount of responsibility to make sure all the pieces fall together. It became a real struggle to remain positive.”

Five hours after the alert went out, K-9 Officer Mike Burns spotted the suspect's truck, but he would not pull over. “I've got a brown Ford Ranger pickup with a male and possibly a small child in the front refusing to yield,” said Officer Burns on his police radio.

Burns began a high-speed chase of the suspect and started broadcasting his every move on the police radio. “He's coming right past you. Don't turn in front of me ... speeds about 70 miles per hour.”

Police finally caught 45-year-old Larry Jon Ladwig after he ran over some spike strips and crashed his truck. Ladwig fled on foot and punched an officer during a brief struggle before he was arrested.

Chapman and every law enforcement officer in the area were listening to the police radio. “We're screaming ‘Where's the girl?’ We finally settled down after we heard the girl was in the truck, and she was alive. It was the best gift anyone could have on Christmas.”

Chapman was surprised the suspect was still in the area and in the same vehicle. He believes Ladwig removed the license plate from the truck because the plate number had been included in the AMBER Alert. Ladwig was charged with numerous crimes including aggravated assault, kidnapping, and molestation of a child. He had been on parole after being released from prison in July.

Chapman sits on the Arizona AMBER Alert Oversight Committee, and he said he learned a lot from this AMBER Alert. He is streamlining the protocol so the alerts will go out more quickly.

“We are big fans of the AMBER Alert,” noted Chapman. “We want it to work smoother, better, and be more understandable.”

The Arizona AMBER Alert Oversight Committee presented Officer Burns with a letter of commendation for his efforts to find the girl. “We often talk about the service performed by the men and women protecting our communities but seldom have an example as vivid and dramatic as the job you performed on Christmas Day,” wrote Arizona State AMBER Alert Coordinator Art Brooks. “We are proud of you and offer our gratitude and that of the community to you for your courage and quick thinking that did, indeed, result in a Christmas miracle.”