Man accused of attempting to abduct 14-year-old girl

The defendant told police the girl looked like she needed help, but a witness said the girl appeared fine.

STAFF REPORT

BOARDMAN — An Oregon Trail man was in the Mahoning County jail, accused of trying to abduct a 14-year-old girl.

Police arrested Guy Krupa, 49, Friday, on an attempted-abduction charge, said Sgt. Glen Riddle. A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Krupa on the charge last week.

He is set for an arraignment Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

On the afternoon of April 13, the victim was walking along Southern Boulevard to meet a friend. As the girl approached Leighton Avenue, a man, later identified as Krupa, driving a tan sport utility vehicle, stopped at a stop sign on Leighton at Southern.

The man yelled out of the vehicle’s window, “Get in the car,” a police report said. The girl told police she thought the man was yelling at someone else, but as she turned away, she saw he was waving for her to come toward him.

Krupa turned onto Southern and off the road, rolling down his window. The girl got scared and backed away. He offered her a ride and she declined and he asked several questions about where she was going, saying he would take her to her friend’s house, the report said.

The girl told police she wouldn’t tell him where she was going and she walked away from him, crossing the Southern Boulevard railroad tracks to get away. Krupa pulled away, turning down another street.

“He said she looked like she needed help,” Riddle said. “But a witness said she looked fine. She was just walking.”

Krupa’s home is equipped with security cameras and its windows are covered with black paper, the sergeant said.

It isn’t Krupa’s first brush with the law. In 2002, he was charged with public indecency, a misdemeanor, accused of exposing himself to the wife of an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor while at White House Fruit Farm. He pleaded no contest and was convicted, fined $100, received 12 months’ probation, and was ordered to attend psychological counseling.