EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY KIDNAPPED BY STRANGER IN LA MESA ;CHILD ESCAPED, POLICE SEEK SUSPECT
UPDATE: Police have determined that this reported kidnapping was a hoax.
La Mesa Police Officers responded to an attempted kidnapping that occurred
at 4827 Parks Avenue in the city of La Mesa on January 1st at 6:55 p.m.. Officers
met with the eight-year-old male victim and his aunt at the Parks Avenue address.
The victim told officers he was outside of his aunt's apartment waiting for
his friends to come outside and play. While seated on a walkway railing
outside of the apartment, he was approached by an unknown male suspect. The
suspect put one hand over the victim's mouth and used his other hand to pick
the victim up off the railing.
The suspect told the victim, "Shut up, don't say anything." The suspect
carried the victim approximately 100 feet through the parking lot. When
the suspect reached the south end of the parking lot, he lost his footing on
a raised curb and dropped the victim onto a patch of Ivy plant. The victim
punched the suspect in the groin, causing the suspect to bend over and fall
to the ground. The victim ran back to his aunt's apartment. The
suspect was last seen running north on Parks Avenue toward El Cajon Boulevard.
The victim was not injured and the suspect has not been located.
Suspect Description: White male, 50-60 years old, 6'0", thin build with
dark short hair and a full dark beard. The suspect was wearing black
pants, a black t-shirt with the picture of a girl wearing a bikini, black gloves
with the fingers cut off of them and a black visor.
Anyone with information about the kidnapping should contact the La Mesa Police
Department at (619) 667-1400.