Groveland man suspected of trying twice to sign student he isn't related to out of school
SONORA – A man is under arrest after he allegedly tried several times to sign out a Sonora Elementary School student he had no relation to, authorities said.
According to the Sonora Police Department, the man – identified as 59-year-old Groveland resident William Blair, Jr. – showed up at Sonora Elementary on Friday afternoon and tried to sign a student out of school.
Staff found that Blair was not on the student's paperwork, so authorities were notified.
Blair was gone by the time officers arrived.
Officers continued to investigate and discovered that Blair also allegedly tried to sign the same student out of school a couple of days before, but left before staff could verify his identity.
Police note that Blair has no relation the student or the student's family.
A meeting between Blair and officers was arranged. This ended with Blair being arrested on two counts of attempted child abduction.
On August 25, 2023, at approximately 2:15 PM, our office was notified by Sonora Elementary School Staff that an unknown...
Posted by Sonora Police Department on Friday, August 25, 2023
Investigators have said that they believe the incident is isolated and no other students were in danger.
"Thanks to the attention to detail by Sonora Elementary Staff, a serious incident was averted," Sonora police said in a statement.
Blair has been booked into jail and is being held on $100,000 bail.