BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- Boynton Beach police are asking parents to be alert after a young teen said a man tried to lure her into his truck Tuesday.
The 13-year-old had just stepped off her school bus near Chapel Hill and Fernwood drives around 4:40 p.m.
She was waiting for a relative to pick her up when a man in a newer model black pickup truck with a 4x4 emblem on the side stopped.
He reportedly said, "How much will I get for $200?"
"[He was] essentially soliciting this young girl," said BBPD spokesperson Stephanie Slater. "She responded that she was 13 years old and that she didn't know him. He said it did not matter, and told her to get in the car.
After the girl refused, police say the man unbuckled his seatbelt and even tried to open his passenger door.
That is when the girl reached for her cell phone, and said she was calling the police. The move scared the suspect off.
"She absolutely did the right thing and was able to prevent something more serious from happening," said Officer Rachel Baldino.
#Contact5 found 3 incidents in 7 months in Boynton Beach involving a suspicious man who tried to "lure" children into a vehicle. https://t.co/7SK1T90mrv@WPTV
— Merris Badcock (@MerrisBadcock) February 1, 2018
According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 70 percent of all abduction attempts involve a suspect driving a vehicle.
Contact 5 found three cases in the last seven months involving a man attempting to lure children into a car: one incident in July 2017 involving a white Chevy truck. another incident in December 2017 with a dark green Toyota Rav 4, and the most recent incident involved a black pick-up truck.
All three incidents happened less than six miles from each other, all suspects were black males, and all three cases happened within an hour from each other (from 4:40 pm to 5:38 pm).
Click here to see a map of three recent 'luring' incidents in Boynton Beach.
Children either ran and got a guardian or parent, or pulled out a cell phone. Police say, right now, they have no reason to believe the incidents are related.
"We are urging parents to discuss this situation with their children and to come up with a plan in case this were to happen to them,” said Baldino, who recommended kicking and hitting to get away, and screaming to draw attention to yourself.
Police describe the driver as a clean-shaven black man with an Afro. They say he was wearing a black shirt and sunglasses and appeared to be in his mid-30s.
If you have any information regarding this incident you are asked to call 561-732-8116.
