Wristband News

Man tries to snatch child at health club – Child-care worker noticed immediately something was amiss 
BELLEVUE — Police fear a man tried to abduct a 5-year-old girl from the child-care area of Bally Total Fitness in Bellevue on Tuesday night. 

The child’s mother left her daughter with a child-care supervisor while she worked out at the fitness center at 3235 148th Ave. S.E. — between Bellevue Community College and Interstate 90. 

`A bunch of red flags’ 

Shortly after 7 p.m. a man approached the child-care supervisor and said he wanted to pick up his daughter. 

The girl was the only child under supervision at the time. The man didn’t use the girl’s name, and the supervisor is acquainted with her parents, so she was immediately suspicious. 

When the supervisor asked to see the man’s wristband parents are supposed to wear, “He said `I’m sorry’ and walked away nervously,” Bellevue police spokeswoman Marcia Harnden said. 

“There were a whole bunch of red flags,” Harnden said. 

The suspect is described by police as an Asian man in his late 20s or early 30s, about 5-foot-4 and 150 pounds with spiked bleached hair and brown teeth. The girl’s parents told police they don’t know who the man was. 

Bally uses wristbands as a safeguard against children being kidnapped. Both the parent who is exercising and the child being taken care of are given matching wristbands so child-care workers can confirm the child is going home with the right person. 

Suspect escapes 

The child-care supervisor immediately called police, but employees did not follow the man and do not know if he drove or walked off the Bally property. 

“Our employees are well-trained and made sure this was a non-incident,” said Dave Southern, spokesman for Bally Total Fitness. He declined to discuss details of the case. 

But police are treating this as a serious incident as they search for the suspect and try to prevent him from attempting another kidnapping. 

Police don’t know yet how the man got inside the fitness center or whether he is a member at Bally. 

ATTEMPTED CHILD KIDNAPPING EASTSIDE DAY CARE CHILDREN SAFETY

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Wristband News

You’ve probably seen the ubiquitous yellow wristbands thousands of people are wearing right now. It’s a tribute to Lance Armstrong and other cancer patients.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation believes that when battling cancer, “knowledge is power and attitude is everything.”

Everybody is banding together to raise money for the foundation by purchasing a yellow wristband with a powerful message inscribed on it, “Live Strong.”

News 8 Austin’s Paul Brown spoke with Britney Puryear, project manager for the Lance Armstrong Foundation about Living Strong.

Q: Tell us about the wristband and what it signifies.

A: This is such an exciting time for us. People all over the country are wanting these wristbands. I think the significance is to Lance Armstrong, the color yellow is so great for him. It’s a symbol of courage, inspiration and perseverance and we found that cancer survivors across the country identify with yellow in the same way. So it was just kind of natural that we made these wristbands yellow, and on it is Lance’s mantra, “Live Strong.” That’s just kind of how the foundation feels about cancer survivor ship, that knowledge is power and attitude is everything, and that there should be life after cancer.

Q: How many wristbands have been sold so far and how much money has been raised?

A: We’ve done so well with the campaign. To date we’ve sold a little over 2.2 million, just on the Web site alone. We’ve sent out 4 million more to retail sites across the country. Those are just flying off the shelves as well. . Plenty of people in the local Austin area have been calling wanting to know where they can get these wristbands.

Q: Where can people purchase a wristband if they would like to buy one?

A: Unfortunately, a lot of stores in Austin are sold out. Some of them have ordered more and should be getting them in, but many are sold out. There is another opportunity at our tour watching party on Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. at the Fox and Hound. We’ve reserved a few wristbands to sell at this party since hopefully we’ll be celebrating the sixth win for Lance.

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