Strangers Offers Middle School Girls a Ride in His Van

The incident happened in the 500 block of F Ave.

Some Coronado parents were on alert Saturday after two middle school-aged girls reported a man asking them to get in his van.

Around 7:20 p.m. Friday, the two girls were standing on the sidewalk in the 500 block of F Avenue, waiting to be picked up by a parent after a school event.

A man inside a van soon pulled up alongside them and asked the girls if they needed a ride. He said if they did, they should get in his van, according to Coronado Police spokesperson Lea Corbin.

Knowing better than to accept a ride from a stranger, the girls ran away and called a parent, who picked them up a block away.

The man is described as light-skinned with brown hair and highlights. Witnesses say he was driving a burgundy 1980s Chevy-type, full-size van with a dent on the driver’s side of the body panel.

There appeared to be a baseball bat on the dashboard, and the back window was smaller than the middle window.

Police were classifying this as a suspicious incident, not an attempted kidnapping, Corbin said.

If you know anything about the man or the vehicle, call Coronado Police at 619-522-7350.

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