Article Display Date: 3/03/2006 12:00 AM
Two girls describe similar suspects
Jacob Ogles, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
GRAND TERRACE - Deputies on Thursday were looking for a man they believe tried to kidnap an 8-year-old girl inside an apartment complex.
The Wednesday incident reminded authorities of another reported incident that may have happened two years ago, although no link has been verified.
Authorities are searching for a light-skinned Latino or white male in his late 20s with black hair pulled back in a short ponytail. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and black baggy pants.
With a knife in his hand, the man shouted "come here" in Spanish to the girl, then chased after her throughout The Crest Apartments. At one point, he got within 8 feet of her, said sheriff's Detective Kenneth Owens.
The girl, authorities said, had gone on her own to the apartment complex's main office because she and her mother had been locked out of their home. The office was closed, and the girl encountered the man while walking back to her apartment.
The mother began searching for her daughter after the girl was missing for more than five minutes, and found her running in tears a few minutes later, she told deputies.
The reported incident sounds similar to an instance that deputies learned about six weeks ago but which happened two years ago, they said.
A 14-year-old girl who lives in a Grand Terrace home a few streets away from the Wednesday incident recently reported to authorities that a man with a similar description had approached her near her home two years ago, said sheriff's Sgt. Ed Finneran.
While she did not initially report anything, the older girl told authorities she had been confronted by the man again recently. She told authorities she had seen the man in Stater Bros., where she was shopping with her father.
Shortly afterward, she said a note was left in her mailbox from someone who wrote that he now knew where she lived and that he had been watching her. The note no longer exists, the girl told authorities, because she tore it up in anger after receiving it.
A week after receiving the note, she saw the man outside her home, she told deputies. After that, she went to authorities, Finneran said.
Owens said the description the 14-year-old girl gave of the man was very much like the one provided by the 8-year-old girl.
"The initial assault on her was really similar," Owens said.
Authorities have released a sketch, but had no suspects. Facial recognition software is being used to cross-reference the sketch with a catalog of mug shots, and both girls will be asked if any of the resulting pictures match up with the man they saw, Finneran said.
