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Manassas City police have released a composite sketch of a man who they say has twice tried to abduct blond teenage girls who were walking to a community center pool.
The sketch was released Thursday, one day after investigators handed out flyers in the area, warning of the two incidents, which happened about three weeks apart.
"That's scary that that could happen right here," said Michelle Bloomquist, who lives in the area.
"A lot of our friends they don't want their children walking their dogs now by themselves. They have to have someone there with them in case something happens someone is there to help them. It's a tragedy," said Cathy Dendley, a Manassas resident.
The most recent incident happened about 1:40 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. A 16-year-old girl was walking to the Wellington Community Center on Clover Hill Road near Strawflower Lane when a man in a blue minivan pulled up. The man got out of the vehicle, grabbed the girl by the arm and said, "Get into the car!", police said.
The girl broke free and escaped unharmed.
About three weeks earlier, in the early evening of Saturday, June 13, a 15-year-old girl was walking alone in the 9600 block of Cloverhill Road -- a few blocks from the other reported attempted abduction. The girl told police she noticed a dark blue "van or truck" parked on the street with a Hispanic male sitting on the passenger side with the door open and his feet hanging out.
The victim told investigators she made eye contact with the man and kept walking. She said after about "10 steps", she felt arms grab her by the waist and try to pull her back.
The victim kicked the man, who released her. She ran to the community center.
The assailant and vehicle descriptions roughly match, police said.
"We have the same description of the suspect, same vehicle description, same area where the girls are walking. The physical description of the two girls are the same," said Manassas City police Captain Arthur Dennis.
Twins Katelyn and Amber Goodfellow, who live in the neighborhood, find the assailant's apparent predilection disturbing.
"I think it's sad that people would try to kidnap others and I think people need to be careful since that's happening," Amber said.
Katelyn added, "I'll probably be more cautious where I go by myself and I'll make sure that I have a cell phone with me in case something does happen."
The second victim described the assailant as a Latino male, in his late 30s to early 40s, with black, crew cut-style hair. He wore a black tank top, blue jeans and had tan Timberland-style boots, police said. The girl also said the man spoke English well.
The first victim added the assailant was about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and 150 pounds.
The man's van was described as dark or navy blue, possibly a Dodge Caravan, with a red pine tree air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror. It had tinted windows on its rear half. Police released a picture of a similar vehicle (SEE BELOW).
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Abbott at (703) 257-8042 or (571) 238-2545..
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Police released this picture of a van similar to the one driven by the assailant. |
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