Confusion Surrounds Reports of Kidnapping Attempts in Rossmoor

Orange County Sheriff’s investigators are working to sort out discrepancies in an attempted kidnapping report in Rossmoor.

The mother of one of the two Rossmoor girls, who were frightened by a suspicious man, says the police version of the event differs wildly from her daughter’s version. The incident prompted the Los Alamitos Unified School District to send out a warning to parents and students to be vigilant of strangers in the area. However, the incident is not considered a crime by Orange County sheriff’s investigators.

The report centers on a March 24 incident near Lee Elementary in Rossmoor when a silver minivan approached the Rossmoor woman’s daughter, 8, and another girl, 9. According to the mother, the girls were walking near the corner of Silverwood Drive.

“As they were getting ready to cross the street, a silver minivan with the back window broken out pulled around the corner in front of them, and they noticed a boy in the passenger seat (approx. 16 yrs.) who, yes … looked like Justin Bieber,” the woman said.

The girls — who described the driver as bald, in his 50s, and wearing baggy clothes — said the driver got out of the vehicle, walked toward the girls and called them to come over. The passenger did not talk to the girls or motion to them.

Afraid, the girls took off running toward Coleridge Drive, the mother said. The man got back in the van and followed the girls, who ran to a house on the corner of Coleridge and Foster and hid behind some bushes. The girls said the man slowed down as he passed Coleridge and continued down Foster slowly as if looking for them.

Then, the girls ran to the mother’s house and told her what happened. The mother said the girls have consistently told the same story to her, the sheriff's deputy and school officials.

According to Orange County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Rob Gunzel, the deputy who took the report said the girls were playing on the playground at Lee Elementary when a minivan driven by a gray-haired man in his 50s passed by.

According to the deputy’s understanding, a boy in the passenger seat of the minivan waved at the girls, and they got scared and hid in a nearby bush as the vehicle drove by. Gunzel said he got the account from an email from the responding deputy, who recalled the event from memory. Gunzel said he didn’t know why there were discrepancies in the two version of events.

“Right now we have differences in story, and I don’t have an explanation for that but (Detective) Dave Purser is going to clean it up after talking to” the mother and the girls, Gunzel said.

Gunzel said the deputy didn’t write a report at the time of the incident but has since done so. Officers in the field have discretion when it comes to writing reports, especially when there doesn’t appear to be a crime, as in this case. However, added Gunzel, the deputy “could have documented it better.”

Gunzel said the item was classified as a “citizen assist” and not child annoyance or attempted abduction because the man didn’t try to take the children.

“It (this incident) may not reach the threshold for child annoyance,” Gunzel said. 

Gunzel said he and Detective Purser have decided to investigate the incident, and the detective hopes to release a flyer with an artist's rendering of the man that warns residents to be on the lookout for him. According to Gunzel, six deputies are currently keep an eye out for the silver minivan with a broken back window. Gunzel said that, while the man is not wanted for any crime, “he is wanted for questioning.”

Abduction reports can be tricky. The week before this incident, a Rossmoor woman reported that a man had attempted to kidnap her grandchild as she was pushing the baby in a stroller. But investigators concluded she “panicked” and may have misinterpreted a wave or friendly gesture by a passing man.

In 2011 Los Alamitos police responded to a report of an attempted kidnapping of an 11-year-old boy with a heavy police force canvassing the neighborhood. Soon after, however, police downgraded the incident, concluding an adult male did shove the boy while passing him on the sidewalk, but he did not attempt to kidnap the child.

The mother in the most recent incident said her only intent was to get out an accurate description of the van driver especially “if he comes back in six months and does the same thing to other girls or something worse,” she said.

“I do think it’s important that they do have a record of that,” she added.

The mother said she’s proud her daughter ran because it showed she’s been listening to warnings about stranger danger. The mother also wonders if maybe the van driver had placed a “cute boy” in the front seat to try to catch the girls.

“Thankfully, my daughter didn’t fall for it,” she said.

The woman advised parents to always tell their children to be watchful and ready.

“Teach your kids about how tricky people are,” she said.

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