Santa Ana Police Seek Man Suspected in 2 Kidnap Tries
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SANTA ANA — Police believe a man who tried to force a 12-year-old girl into his car Wednesday struck again Friday afternoon in the attempted kidnapping of a 14-year-old boy who was riding his bike home from school.
The man tried to talk the boy into getting into his car at a location near the scene of the earlier incident on Center Street, said Dennis Sebastianelli, Santa Ana Police station supervisor.
The boy refused the request and rode his bike to a nearby security shack to report the incident. The victim was not touched or harmed.
Authorities said the man’s description and tactics are similar to the man who tried to kidnap a young girl as she walked home from school on Wednesday. In that incident, the man grabbed the girl’s arm but fled after she began to cry.
“It was the same description, same M.O.,” Sebastianelli said.
The man is described as white or Latino, about 25, 5-foot-8, with a mustache and goatee. He wore dark clothing and was seen in a dark green or blue car.
Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call the Santa Ana Police Department at (714) 245-8603.
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