Sketch Released of Attempted Kidnapper

Orange police released a composite sketch Tuesday of a man they suspect of trying to abduct a 9-year-old girl in Orange earlier this month. The same man possibly attempted to abduct another girl in Huntington Beach, police there said.

On May 4, a man approached a girl walking in an alley in the 2600 block of North Bourbon Street and offered her some candy, then asked her to follow him because he wanted to show her something, Orange police said. When the girl refused, the man took out a knife and threatened to rape her, police said.

A bystander walked up, prompting the man to run away, and the girl was unharmed.

Huntington Beach police said a man with a similar description approached a 14-year-old girl in their city on April 23.

The man approached the teenager as she was walking near Ethel Dwyer Middle School and asked her if she had seen a small black dog in the area, authorities said. The girl told investigators she ran away and the man chased her for a short distance before returning to his two-door car and leaving the 1500 block of Palm Avenue, police said. The girl was unharmed.

Police described the suspect in both cases as a Latino in his 30s, 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, of medium build, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was driving a white or gray 1970s Chevrolet Nova or Chevelle that was damaged in the right front headlight area, police said.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the man to call (714) 744-7560 in Orange or (714) 536-8253 in Huntington Beach.