Police Release Sketch Of Man Who Attempted To Kidnap Young Boy In Palos Verdes
PALOS VERDES ESTATES (CBSLA.com) — Police released a sketch of a male suspect who tried to force an 11-year-old boy into a van as the child was walking home from a school bus stop in Palos Verdes Estates.
The boy was headed home in the area of Coronel Plaza and Via Margarita around 3:30 p.m. Thursday when a "1980s-style Chevrolet van" approached him, according to the Palos Verdes Police Department.
"The driver of the van called to the victim to get his attention and ask him directions to 'the Promenade,'" according to a police report.
"The victim began to look at his cellphone to assist the suspect and the suspect said he could not hear him speaking ans asked him to come closer to the van."
As the boy walked near the front passenger door of the van, he heard the passenger sliding door open, and he felt someone grab his backpack from behind and attempt to pull him into the van, police said.
"The victim quickly broke free from the second suspect's grasp and ran from the location straight to his residence," police said in a statement. "He then heard the van quickly speed away from the area."
While the victim did not get a look at the suspect who grabbed him from behind, he told investigators he recalled seeing the same van in the same area at the same time of day on Wednesday.
The driver has been described as a while male in his 40s, with medium build, tanned skin, dark brown hair and buzz cut. He was said to be wearing a tank top.
The suspect also had a patch of lighter skin on his right cheek, according to the police sketch.
The van was described as a brown-colored 1980s Chevrolet van, with three stripes running along the middle of the vehicle. The center stripe was either white or silver. The vehicle also had two tinted windows on the left side with horizontal blinders.
Palos Verdes Estates police have asked anyone with information to contact them at (310) 378-4211.