EFFORT -- A mother from the Poconos is thankful her son listened to her and didn't talk to strangers and that little boy is equally thankful.
On Tuesday night, police say two men tried kidnapping two young boys. Those boys ran away, but not before one got a good look at the men and what they were driving.
Jessie Johnson of Effort got a call Tuesday night, a call that many parents dread. State police say her 8-year-old son was almost kidnapped while riding his bike with a friend in their neighborhood right in front of her parent's home.
"I kind of freaked out. It was scary. I asked what the guy looked like and what the car looked like, as much as my son could remember," Johnson said.
And her son could remember a lot.
"We were racing on our bikes and there was a bunch of cars going up and down and we pulled over on both sides."
It happened on Shenkle Road near Effort where the 8-year-old boy says they were riding their bikes Tuesday night. At one point, a gold-colored vehicle pulled up to the boys with two men inside and those two men had two very specific questions for both the boys.
"The driver said to me, if I want money and to my friend, if he wants candy."
Then, the 8 year old remembered what his mom Jessie taught him to not talk to strangers.
"I ignored them and I went to tell his friend's mom, then I went here to tell my nanny."
Immediately after, that's when Johnson got a call that her 8 year old was almost taken.
"I felt very scared," he said. "Because I didn't want him to take me away and I couldn't see my mom."
"It's really sad because it happened right here and I grew up in this house. I played in the same yard, nothing ever happened and now I have to watch out for them," Johnson added.
The 8 year old says the two men were white. One was in his 30s and the other in his 20s.
The vehicle they were driving was a gold SUV that was low to the ground with a Pennsylvania license plate.
If you have any information about Tuesday night's incident, you're asked to contact state police.