WASHINGTON – A McDonald’s security guard is being credited with helping to save a 13-year-old boy from being kidnapped by a police impersonator.

Montgomery County police say Rodney Murrell, 31, entered a McDonald’s on Colesville Road in Silver Spring, Md., Friday afternoon and grabbed the boy from behind, attempting to drag him outside. Murrell reportedly identified himself as the police and told the boy he was under arrest.

But when a security guard at the restaurant intervened, police say Murrell let the boy go and began walking toward a Metro station. Murrell, of Southeast D.C., later was located at a D.C. hospital.

Police obtained a warrant charging Murrell with attempted kidnapping and second-degree assault. The suspect was expected to be extradited once he is cleared medically.

Follow WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)