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Seven-year-old girl grabbed by the hair while getting mail

A mother is sharing a warning after her daughter was allegedly assaulted Tuesday evening in front of their home.

YORKTOWN, Va. (WVEC) -- A mother is sharing a warning after her daughter was allegedly assaulted Tuesday evening in front of their home.

The girl, only seven-years-old, is shaken up and her parents are spreading the word in hopes of finding the suspect. Per the family's request, 13News Now will not name the girl or show her face.

The York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office said the incident took place on Showalter Road in Yorktown.

Her mother, Kristen Yakalavich, said her daughter went out to grab the mail Tuesday, a daily routine, but seconds later she came back inside scared and told her mother a man drove by and grabbed her hair.

"Maybe 45 seconds pass, and she's running back to the front door not crying, nothing, her face is frozen. She's holding her head and she says, 'Mommy, some man just pulled my hair,'" said Yakalavich.

The girl clenched onto the mailbox post, as her hair was being pulled, which her mother thinks was a big part of how she was able to break away safely.

"She did exactly as she was told which goes to show that as much trust as you put in your children, it's other people you can't trust," said Yakalavich.

After hearing her daughter tell her what happened, she contacted the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office right away.

Deputies are investigating this as an assault case, and have dispatched extra patrols around the neighborhood. The family hopes to catch the suspect, which investigators are describing as a black male with curly hair.

Yakalavich also wants parents to be cautious this summer if they go outside.

"We need to be more focused in the present. Get off your phones, get off that couch, get outside with your children because something as simple as a routine and turn into something tragic," she said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office.

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