Sketch Released of Botched Kidnap Suspect

Sheriff's investigators released a sketch Friday of a man who reportedly tried to kidnap a woman in Lake Forest about a week ago.

The woman was walking along Overlake Drive about 2:15 p.m. April 11 when the suspect, who was driving a van, stopped across the street and told her he needed help to find his missing dog, said Jim Amormino of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

The suspect showed her a photo of a dog and asked if she had seen the animal, Amormino said. When the woman crossed the street to get a closer look, he got out of the van and said he had a better snapshot in the vehicle and had her follow him over to the passenger side, Amormino said.

When the man opened the van's sliding door, he attempted to shove the woman inside, but she kicked him and ran away, Amormino said.

The suspect was described as a Latino man in his 30s, 5-foot-10 and weighing about 230 pounds, with  shaved head and thin eyebrows that appeared manicured, Amormino said.

The suspect was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and driving a newer-model white Chevrolet van with no windows and gray interior, Amormino said. The vehicle had a metal partition separating the cargo area from the front seat.

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- City News Service