NEWPORT BEACH : Boy Reports Attempt by Man to Grab Him

Police were searching Wednesday for a small black pickup truck in an attempted abduction of a 7-year-old boy, who was approached by the truck’s driver while playing on a sidewalk.

The boy, whose name was withheld, was unhurt in the incident, which occurred about 5 p.m. Tuesday, Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said.

“Of course, we are concerned and looking into a number of possibilities as to what might have occurred,” Gonis said.

Gonis said the boy told investigators he was playing in a residential area near the intersection of Bayside Drive and Island Avenue when he noticed a pickup truck drive slowly past him, with the driver intently watching him.

The driver then made a U-turn, parked at the curb, got out of the truck and approached without saying a word, Gonis said.

When the driver reached out to grab him, the youngster ran home and told his parents, Gonis said. The boy was not chased, and he never saw the truck again.

Police searched the area for the truck and issued a countywide alert.

The boy said the man’s appearance was “very neat,” Gonis said, and described him as white, in his 30s, about 5 feet, 10 inches, with a potbelly, dark hair combed straight back, a mustache and dark sunglasses.

Juvenile detectives are trying to find witnesses and are interviewing the boy again.

Gonis said investigators also contacted Costa Mesa police to see whether there are similarities to a foiled abduction two months ago involving an 8-year-old girl who was approached as she walked to Wilson Elementary School. However, he noted, there were striking differences in the descriptions of the would-be abductors and the vehicles they were driving.

In addition, a man abducted a 6-year-old girl off a Buena Park sidewalk on May 9. A pursuing witness caught up with that kidnaper and freed the child, but the man fled, reportedly on a bicycle.