A 50-year-old man suspected of stalking two girls and trying to kidnap one of them as they headed to school in Moreno Valley was being held Thursday on $1 million bail.
Rene Ramirez of Indio was arrested and booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside Wednesday on suspicion of attempted kidnapping and annoying a minor.
According to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Martinez, the two victims, identified only as Moreno Valley girls, were walking to school in the area of Cactus Avenue and Perris Boulevard about 9:20 a.m. Wednesday when Ramirez allegedly “pulled alongside them” in his car.
Martinez alleged the suspect “attempted to pull one of the juveniles into his vehicle … (but) she was able to break free from his grasp.”
The girls, who were not injured, ran to their campus and notified officials regarding what had transpired, prompting administrators to contact sheriff’s deputies, the sergeant said.
He said that thanks to the detailed description of the vehicle provided by the students, patrol deputies spotted it roughly an hour later near the intersection of Ormista and Season drives.
The driver, Ramirez, was detained without incident and ultimately booked into custody based on the witnesses’ statements, according to Martinez.
Background information on the suspect was unavailable.