Police are investigating two West Oakland shootings. (File)
LAFAYETTE — A middle-school student was able to break free from a man who grabbed her after she was dropped off at school Friday in what authorities called an attempted kidnapping.
Lafayette police officers responded to Stanley Middle School on School Street about 8 a.m. and learned that a man had approached the 14-year-old girl on Monroe Avenue near the school, according to a statement from Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jimmy Lee. The girl had just been dropped off by her parent, Lee said.
The man asked the girl if she was alone, then grabbed her by her shoulder, Lee said. He kept a firm grasp on her as she tried to break free, something that Lee said she was finally able to do anyway. She then ran away and told school officials what happened.
They contacted law enforcement. The girl was not physically injured, Lee said.
Authorities described the suspect as 5 feet 8 or 5 feet 9 inches tall and heavyset. They said he is approximately 40 years old with stubble for facial hair. He was wearing a grey-hooded sweatshirt with a white shirt underneath and dark-colored pants.
After the attempted kidnapping, the man drove away in what authorities described as a white four-door sedan with stock wheels and mud spray on the driver’s side.
The school is in a heavily residential area, and police asked residents in the area to check any home security video they may have to see if it captured the suspect or the vehicle.
Police asked anyone with information to contact 925-646-2441.
Originally published at Rick Hurd