Detectives were searching Friday for a man who tried to pull a 16-year-old schoolgirl into his pickup truck in Monterey Park, police said.
The victim was walking to school when the suspect pulled into a driveway blocking the sidewalk in the 600 block of North Orange Avenue about 7:10 a.m. Thursday, said Monterey Park Police Detective Sgt. Rick Munger.
The man tried to engage the girl in conversation and when she attempted to walk away, he got out of the pickup, grabbed her from behind and tried to force her into the vehicle, Munger said.
“The victim screamed and was released,” Munger said. “The suspect got back into the vehicle and fled southbound on Orange Avenue.”
The girl was “shaken but unharmed,” Munger said.
The suspect is described as Hispanic, 20-30 years old, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a thin build, unshaven face and short black hair. He spoke with a Spanish accent and was wearing a black long-sleeve T-shirt and blue jeans.
The pickup truck is described as a white mid-2000s Chevrolet Colorado or GMC Canyon with a single cab, black bed liner, tinted windows and oversized five-spoke wheel rims.
Anyone with information on the suspect was urged to call Monterey Park Police at (626) 573-1311.
—City News Service