A man tried to entice a 16-year-old boy into a van on his way home from a park in Santee Tuesday, authorities say.
A man driving a van in the 9100 block of Carlton Hills Boulevard beckoned the boy, who was riding his bicycle from Mast Park, to get in the van around 3:30 p.m., said Sgt. Michael Gonzales of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department's Santee Station.
The boy ignored the van driver and continued toward home. He then saw the van following him to the Santee Town Center Trolley Station near Town Center Parkway, where the driver stopped in front of the victim and waved his hand for the boy to get into the van, Gonzales said.
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The boy rode home and told his parents, who called the sheriff's station.
The suspect is described as a Middle Eastern man in his 40s with an average build, black hair, mustache and short buzz-cut hair style. The van he was driving was described as a late 1990s Ford Econoline with tinted windows and beige curtains in the back, Gonzales said.
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San Diego County Sheriff's were also investigating two recent child luring attempts in Spring Valley. In at least one of the incidents, two people in a black car approached a juvenile.
Anyone with information about the driver was asked to call the sheriff's non-emergency line at 858 -565-5200 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at 888- 580-8477.
