Kidnap Attempts Shake Los Al Schools

ORANGE COUNTY, CA -- Rossmoor schools went into high alert Wednesday after a man tried to kidnap two children during recess, authorities said. Officials believe the man is the same person wanted for questioning in a similar incident in March.

The latest incident happened around 12:30 p.m., when the man approached a 7-year-old girl at Lee Elementary School, according to Jim Amormino, Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman. The man spoke to the girl through a chain-link fence on the Wembley Road side of the school.

“He told the girl he had some candy and to come over to him,” Amormino said.

About 10 minutes later, the man tried to call over an 8-year-old boy through the fence.

“He told the boy he was going to kidnap him after school,” Amormino said. Both children ran away and told a teacher.

Coincidentally, the man approached the children around the same time sheriff's deputies and news crews were in the area doing interviews about a similar incident March 24.

In both cases, the suspect was described as a 50-year-old man with short hair, officials said.

In the earlier incident, a silver or gray minivan with a broken rear window approached two Rossmoor girls walking home from Lee Elementary just before noon, according to the Sheriff's Department.

The driver got out of the vehicle, then motioned and called for the girls to come closer. The girls took off running and hid in some bushes.

The man returned to the van — which also had a teenage boy in the passenger seat — and followed the girls down the street before driving away, authorities said. The frightened 8- and 9-year-old girls then hurried home.

Deputies released a sketch of the man Tuesday. Since the March incident, officials have been on the lookout for the silver minivan, authorities said.

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Authorities believe the same minivan returned Wednesday.

“It was an early release day and most of the district’s elementary school students had already gone home for the day by the time the school district and police arrived,” said district Superintendent Sherry Kropp.

At the time of Wednesday's kidnap attempts, only McAuliffe Middle School students were still waiting to be picked up from school. McAuliffe buses were halted, and parents or guardians were asked to pick up those students, said Kropp.

The remaining students were being released only to parents, guardians and emergency contacts, and any children in the Kid’s Corner Afterschool Program in Rossmoor had to have a parent or legal guardian sign them out.

School buses were expected to resume normal operations Thursday, Kropp said. However, she asked students and parents to be vigilant: “It’s very important that we are all on high alert."

The school district has asked for increased police patrols the rest of this week. On Thursday, teachers will discuss the danger with students.

Many students were already familiar with the situation.

At Lee Elementary, kids had been talking about the earlier incident, explained Simon Scott, 10, a fifth-grader.

“Today, my friend said the man told him (and another boy) to come over and get in the car and get candy,” said Simon. “They ran and told one of the teachers, and then they announced it on the radio, and we all had to go to the media center. I wasn’t all that scared. I know we’re safe inside.”

Simon’s father, Stephen Scott, said he picks up and drops off his son from school every day. The elder Scott said he has talked with his son about stranger danger and feels confident the boy knows how to stay safe.

“If someone comes up to us and tells us to help him find his puppy or something, you don’t go over. You run and tell someone,” the boy said.

Stephen Scott said the school handled Wednesday's incident well.

“They took all the right actions,” he said.

At about 3:10 p.m., a number of parents received automated calls about the incident from the district. 

The following email message was sent out to Los Alamitos Unified School District parents by Superintendent Sherry Kropp at about 2:50 Wednesday.

Dear Los Al Families,

It just came to our attention that a silver minivan was again spotted in Rossmoor close to Lee Elementary.  A man threatened and tried to lure two different students to his van.  All of our K-8 schools will not release students today unless it is to a parent, guardian, or someone on the students’ emergency cards.  We do not feel it is safe to let students walk home from school today.  We’ve been communicating with the Orange County Sheriff.  I will keep you posted should I learn anything new.

All of our K-5 and Oak students have already been dismissed today.  However, any student on these campuses for after-school programs will also need to be picked up by a parent, guardian, or someone on the students’ emergency cards.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

With gratitude,

Sherry

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