A nine-year-old Charleston boy was hailed a hero at his school Thursday. Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants made Malik Youngblood an official Charleston Jr. Police Officer.

The J.E. Robbins fourth grader had the presence of mind to stop a carjacking in progress earlier this month.

"We were at One Stop and my Mom went in to get something to drink,” Malik recalled. “As soon as my Mom stepped in the door...that dude jumped into the car and tried to steal it. But I yanked the keys out."

That "dude" was Jonathan Martin. And in the back seat of the car were Malik's three younger brothers, two of them infants. The 9-year-old says as soon as he had the keys in his hand, Martin demand he hand them over.

"I was scared a little,” he said.

But even when the suspect punched him, Malik held on to those keys and Martin fled the scene. So what was the 4th grader thinking?

"What is this man doing? He's crazy!"

Charleston Police caught up with Martin a short time later. He's been charged with three counts of kidnapping and attempted grand larceny.

Prosecutor Plants says Malik showed tremendous courage. "Unbelievable! The bravery! The courage! The quick thinking! I don't think that I could think as quickly and clearly to reach out and grab the keys like he did,” Plants said.

When asked if he'd do it again. Malik said "Yes." He knew he had to protect his brothers.

J.E. Robins Principal Henry Nearman organized a school assembly to honor Malik. "I think for his actions that evening he's definitely a role model, not just for the kids but for a lot of the adults,” according to the principal.

Malik isn't sure if he wants to be a police officer when he grows up. But he did have one request of Plants. He wants to go to work with him for a day to see how he handles the bad guys.