A 9-year-old Vintage Hills Elementary student was approached by a woman who allegedly told the girl to get into her car at about 3 p.m. Friday, according to Pleasanton police. The girl refused and was picked up shortly after by her mother.
The girl was waiting for her mother in the 1100 block of Kottinger Drive near Bernal Avenue, about a quarter mile away from the school. The suspect, described as heavy set, in her 50s with shoulder-length brown or blonde curly hair, allegedly told the girl that her father was unable to pick her up and that she was to pick her up. Her car was described as a small, older model white or gray four-door sedan with a rear spoiler.
Officers in the area were notified of the incident and searched the neighborhood for the suspect, but did not locate the woman, police said.
Lt. Mike Elerick of the Pleasanton Police Department said a man waiting to pick up his granddaughter, who is friends with the fourth-grader, witnessed the confrontation. Sensing something suspicious, the man told the girl not to get in the car.
"She did the right thing and luckily there was another adult there," Elerick said. "This is that great opportunity for parents to talk with their kids about stranger danger and what to do when someone they don't know approaches them or entices them into a car."
Elerick said police are still investigating. They're calling the case a suspicious circumstance, not an attempted kidnapping, as the woman's motives were unclear.
This is the first circumstance of this kind to happen in recent history, he said.
Anyone with more information or who may have witnessed the incident is encouraged to call police at 931-5116.
Comments
Oak Hill
on Oct 16, 2007 at 1:12 pm
on Oct 16, 2007 at 1:12 pm
About 7 years ago in Fremont, there was an attempted abduction of a student from an elementary school by a female fitting the same description. It was the same scenario.
Oak Hill
on Oct 16, 2007 at 1:12 pm
on Oct 16, 2007 at 1:12 pm
About 7 years ago in Fremont, there was an attempted abduction of a student from an elementary school by a female fitting the same description. It was the same scenario.
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Oct 16, 2007 at 2:18 pm
on Oct 16, 2007 at 2:18 pm
It would be nice to have more details, since a woman attempting to abduct a child is very unusual. Did the woman approach the child on foot? When the child refused to comply, did the woman just walk away, did she say anything? After the child said no, did the woman accept this answer without further comment and walk away? A pretty weak attempt at abduction, may they all end this way.
Carlton Oaks
on Oct 1, 2008 at 12:25 am
on Oct 1, 2008 at 12:25 am
Okay, why didn't the man that witnessed the whole thing and saw it was suspicious write down the license plate and call 911???
To the person that posted the first comment you should call police at 931-5116.
Oak Hill
on Oct 2, 2008 at 12:43 am
on Oct 2, 2008 at 12:43 am
What the hell is a 9yr old child doing waiting for a parent to pick her up on a street a quarter of a mile away from her school unless traffic conditions were such that this location was the normal pickup spot.
Unless that parent was on her death bed, she should have been there to pick this child up when classes were over. Wonder what the mother's excuse was for being late...
No excuse is acceptable, if you're the "pickup, you arrange your schedule around your child's schedule.
Thank goodness that grandfather was there and recognized a potential problem.