Detectives Seek Man Who Attempted to Kidnap a Girl

Los Angeles:  This afternoon at a news conference, Los Angeles Police Department Northeast Division detectives announced their investigation the attempted kidnapping of a 12-year-old student from Luther Burbank Middle School.

On September 13, 2010, at around 7 a.m., a young girl was walking to school in an alley adjacent to the Metro Gold Line between Avenue 60 and Avenue 61 in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles when a man exited his van nearby and pretended to inspect his vehicle.  As the victim passed him, the suspect grabbed her from behind and attempted to pull her into his van as she held onto wrought-iron fence. Without releasing her grip on the fence, the girl began yelling for help, so the suspect finally released her and drove away. The victim would not release her grasp from the wrought iron fence and continued to yell for help.  A short time later, the girl notified school administrators about the incident and they immediately called the police.

The suspect was described as an African American male, 20-30 years of age, standing about 5 feet 11 inches and weighing about 185 pounds.  He was wearing two studded earrings, and his vehicle was described as a royal blue, older model van with dark tint on all the windows.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Northeast Robbery detectives at 213-847-4270. After hours or on weekends, calls may be directed to the Northeast Watch Commander at 213-485-2563 or a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7.  Those with tips may also text CRIMES (274637) and begin messages with the letters “LAPD” or submit information on the LAPD website: www.lapdonline.org. All persons who provide tips may remain anonymous.