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Boy says stranger tailed him after stop

The 13-year-old was walking home from his school bus stop when he says the man asked him if he wanted a ride in his truck.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published June 9, 2005

WESLEY CHAPEL - He is described as having red, curly hair. He stands about 5-8 to 5-10 and weighs between 225 and 250 pounds. He wore a gray T-shirt, blue work pants and tennis shoes.

And he's the latest suspicious person to try to abduct a child in Pasco County, according to the Pasco Sheriff's Office.

The incident occurred Tuesday afternoon as a 13-year-old boy was walking home from his school bus stop in the Meadow Pointe community, according to a sheriff's official.

Sheriff's deputies stepped up patrols in the area Wednesday and unmarked cruisers were on hand as summer school buses made their afternoon run through the neighborhood.

The Sheriff's Office is also asking for the public's help in identifying the man, by releasing Wednesday an artist's composite sketch.

"We're hoping that anybody who saw anything in the public will call our tips line," said sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin. That number is toll-free 1-800-706-2488.

It happened between 12:30 p.m. and 12:45 p.m. on Wrencrest Drive, near Blanchard Court, according to the Sheriff's Office.

A black Ford F-150 Longbed with a black camper shell and dark tinted windows pulled alongside the boy, an unidentified Weightman Middle School student.

The boy told sheriff's detectives this is what happened:

The man asked the boy if he wanted a ride.

"No," the boy said.

Then the man got out of the truck and approached the boy.

"I am going to get you, brother," the boy said he heard the man say.

The boy ran. The man tried to follow.

The boy escaped unharmed, and then the man fled the area. Then the attempted abduction was reported, the latest in a string of similar incidents that were investigated in February and March.

"Our first reaction is to blanket the area, to do as much as we can to see if this suspect is out there and apprehend that individual," Tobin said.

Meanwhile detectives also worked to verify the boy's story was genuine.

"It took a while for him to calm down," Tobin said. "He felt threatened, and we're taking it seriously."

After searching the area, investigators couldn't find a suspect. So Wednesday investigators switched gears and went public with the incident.

"It was decided (Wednesday) morning that we need to get that picture out," Tobin said.

[Last modified June 9, 2005, 01:18:10]