A 12-year-old girl ran to safety after a man asked, 'Do you want some candy?' and lunged at her Wednesday afternoon, according to El Dorado County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Bryan Golmitz.
The girl was on the playground at Diamond Springs Christian School on Enterprise Drive at 3:45 p.m. when the suspect caught her attention, Golmitz said. The man drove around the playground in his older red pickup, and after getting out he reportedly offered her candy, saying 'It's in my truck.'
The girl backed away and the suspect kind of lunged at her, trying to grab her, Golmitz said. The girl fell once before managing to run to the school office to report the incident, he added.
The suspect is described as an older white male, bald and wearing glasses. He was driving an older red Ford Ranger with a gray tailgate that had the word Ford written on it.
'We are taking this very seriously,' Golmitz said
'We've met with the school,' he explained. 'We've got a week and a half of extra patrol in that area.'
Detectives are reviewing other cases to see if any similarities might imply that the man has attempted to kidnap a child before, Golmitz said. Also, he added, they're going through records to see if they can identify the suspect by his vehicle.
Anyone with information that might help detectives identify the suspect asked to call the Sheriff's Department at (530) 621-6600.
E-mail Noel Stack at nstack@mtdemocrat.net or call (530) 344-5065.
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