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Teen reports man tried to abduct her on Shady Run
YOUNGSTOWN
Police and the parents of a 16-year-old Chaney High School student want help from the community in finding the man who tried to pull the girl into his van as she walked home from school.
According to police reports, the teenager was walking near Shady Run Road on the South Side after getting off the school bus just after 4 p.m. Tuesday when an elderly white man with a scruffy beard pulled alongside her driving a dark-blue SUV. The girl said the man tried to pull her into the vehicle.
The girl told police she began fighting with the man, but he would not let her go. She said the fighting continued until the man was startled by a passing car and she was able to break free.
“I was so scared when I ran home. I couldn’t even tell my cousin what happened. I was too scared to talk,” the girl said about the attempted abduction.
Any fear felt by the teenager was matched by her parents when she reached her home. The girl’s mother flagged down a passing officer to ask for help. She said fear for her daughter’s safety was quickly matched with anger.
“This makes me angry because the kids can’t even walk to school without someone trying to hurt them. They don’t feel safe,” she said.
Police Capt. Rod Foley said officers have not recorded any similar incidents with anyone with a description similar to that given by the girl, but he said officers want the man captured and off the street.
He is asking that anyone with information about the alleged attacker or who may have witnessed the incident call police at 330-747-7911 or the police department’s Crime Stoppers tip hot line at 330-746-CLUE.
Meanwhile, the 58-year-old mother is concerned for the safety of other children who walk through South Side neighborhoods to and from the bus. She said her daughter no longer will be making that walk.
“I am taking my daughter to school now. I talked to my job to see if I can come in a little later to make sure she gets to school safe. She is afraid to walk to the bus stop, so me and my husband will be taking her,” the mother said.
The mother said her daughter often walks home wearing an iPod and listening to music. She is glad the teen was not using the device just before the attack because she would not have heard the man pull along side her.
She encourages other children to pay attention to their surroundings.
The girl, after her near- abduction, also encourages kids walking to pay attention to their surroundings and know who is behind or near them.
She added a similar situation could happen to anyone.