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SPRING VALLEY —
Sheriff’s investigators on Wednesday released a sketch of a man suspected of trying to lure a girl into his car last week in Spring Valley — the third such incident recently reported in the area.
Sheriff’s investigators say this sketch portrays the man suspected of attempting to lure a 13-year-old girl into his black Toyota Prius on Feb. 28 near Spring Valley Academy in Casa de Oro.
(Courtesy of San Diego County Sheriff’s Department)
Deputies do not believe the three incidents are related based on the differences in descriptions of the men involved.
The latest incident occurred around 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 28, as a 13-year-old girl was walking to Spring Valley Academy on Conrad Drive off Campo Road in the Casa de Oro area of Spring Valley, according to sheriff’s Detective Bryan Keshka.
The girl told investigators she was crossing a parking lot on Campo Road, just north of state Route 94 near Kenwood Drive, when a man driving a black Toyota Prius asked if she needed a ride, Keshka said. When the girl refused, he demanded she get into the car.
The girl ran across the street instead and ultimately made it safely to the school campus, where she reported the incident to school staff, according to Keshka. The incident was not reported to the Sheriff’s Department until five days later, Friday — a day after investigators released sketches of two other men suspected in similar attempted-luring attempts.
Keshka said the girl described the Prius’ driver as a roughly 30-year-old White man with short, curly red hair and crooked teeth. He was clean shaven and wearing reading glasses. His Prius was a newer model without any distinctive markings.
According to sheriff’s officials, a similar incident occurred that same morning but about 90 minutes earlier and about five miles away in the La Presa area. In that incident, the driver of a black four-door sedan with dark rims tried to get a 10-year-old girl into his car as she walked near Kempton Street Elementary School, on Kempton Street near Jamacha Boulevard.
That man also had a passenger in his car, according to sheriff’s officials, who last week released sketches depicting the two men from that incident.
Another incident occurred around 5:45 p.m. Feb. 17 outside a 7-Eleven on Campo Road near Cordoba Avenue, north of SR-94 in the Casa de Oro area, sheriff’s officials said. In that incident, a man wearing a black ski mask asked a 17-year-old girl if she’d like a ride in his Dodge Challenger.
When she declined, the man reportedly threatened to put her in his car, but the teen ran away.
Source: This post first appeared on sandiegouniontribune.com
