Onlooker stops stranger trying to kidnap children from California park, cops say

Police are seeking a man accused of trying to snatch two children from a Pico Rivera park, California authorities reported.

The man tried to talk to a girl walking home through Pico Park from school at 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said in a bulletin.

When she told him to leave her alone, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her with him, saying she was “not going anywhere,” deputies said.

An onlooker at the park confronted the man and threatened to call police, the release said. The man released the girl and tried to grab a child who was with the onlooker, then ran away.

Sheriff’s officials, who released a sketch of the man, ask that anyone with information call 562-949-2421.

Pico Rivera, population 60,000, is a city 11 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles in Southern California.

This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Onlooker stops stranger trying to kidnap children from California park, cops say."