Antonio Díaz Chacón was 24 years old and had two daughters when he decided not to look the other way.
That Monday in August 2011, he had returned home early from work. His washing machine was broken, so he went to do laundry at a relative’s house, a block away, in a mobile home park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. That was where he saw something no one should ever see: a man was throwing a 6-year-old girl into a pickup truck while a neighbor shouted for him to let her go. Antonio didn’t hesitate. He ran to his pickup and followed them.
The chase crossed several neighborhoods until reaching the point where the city gives way to the desert. Mile after mile, Antonio stayed right behind the vehicle, without losing sight of it for a second, until the pickup crashed into a pole. The driver fled on foot, but Antonio wasn’t concerned with catching him. He cared about what was inside. He found the girl alive and got her to safety. Police later found packing tape and a strap inside the vehicle. The suspect, identified as Phillip García, was eventually sentenced to 19 years in prison. Antonio never knew how that chase would end when he decided to begin it. He only knew that a girl needed help, and that was enough.