Man Tries To Abduct 14-Year-Old Girl In Lawndale
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police were warning families to be on alert, after an attempted abduction Wednesday afternoon in the Lawndale neighborhood.
CBS 2's Susanna Song reports a man pulled up next to a 14-year-old girl as she was walking in the 700 block of South Karlov Avenue, around 1:20 p.m., and asked her, "Do you want a ride sweetheart?"
The girl ignored him, and he drove around the block and came back a second time; this time in an angry voice, he shouted, "I said, do you want a ride?"
Then the man got out of his van, grabbed the girl, and tried to pull her into his van. She punched him in the head and ran away.
A woman who lives on that block said it worries her, because she has a 15-year-old daughter.
"That's crazy that that's happening, and she had to go through that, because it should be safer for the kids to walk back and forth from camp or school," Fateima Matthews said.
She said she teaches her daughter not to talk to strangers; and to run, scream, and go to the nearest store, or to a neighbor's house if she's ever in that kind of situation.
The victim described the man who tried to grab her as a bald African American man, between 40 and 50 years old, and about 200 pounds. He was clean shaven, had yellowed teeth, big pointed ears, a drooping right eye, and acne all over his face.
The vehicle was a white cargo van, possibly a Chevy, with no side windows. The front windows were tinted.
Anyone with information should call Area North detectives at 312-744-8200.
