Teenager escapes alleged kidnapper in Jefferson County

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating an attempted abduction outside a Littleton middle school Monday night.

What’s unusual about this case is the victim is a high school student.

What’s scary is the suspect didn’t back off when the teenager tried running away. The 14-year-old boy was walking home from a friend’s house in the 8200 block of W. Toller Ave. when he noticed a dark-blue or black car following him near Falcon Bluffs Middle School at 8449 S. Garrison St.

“The car stopped and the man said, ‘Come here. Come here.’ It scared the boy. The boy started running,” says Mark Techmeyer, spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

But the threat didn’t end there in the school’s parking lot.

“The man, according to the boy, got out of the car and gave chase. And actually ran the boy down, physically on foot and was able to catch the boy. Then, the struggle pursued. The boy was able to break his grip and run away,” says Techmeyer.

Parents say the report is at once scary and surprising.

“As a woman I’m really protective of myself and think about that kind of stuff. But not with my 13-year-old son. You don’t really go there in your head once they’re older,” says “Nicole,” a mother of two children, who didn’t want to give her last name.

“Most 14-year-olds are pretty hard to grab,” says a 14-year-old boy at a football practice outside the school.

He is also shocked a stranger would target someone older. But he says it opens his eyes to the possibility.

“I never really thought about it. Now when I start to walk home, you get a little more freedom, you have to be really careful,” says the boy, whose mother did not want us to use his name.

And with the recent abduction and murder of Jessica Ridgeway, communities are on heightened alert.

“Now, my parents have me walk with my next door neighbor to school,” says 11-year-old Alea Tooley, about the personal impacts of Ridgeway’s death.

“It’s our number one concern in the metro area right now when it comes to crime. Parents are very concerned about safety of their children, as they should be,” says Techmeyer.

He says while the attempted abduction was reported Monday night they didn’t release the information until Wednesday because of mistakes made within the department’s internal communications.

He says they are investigating, so the problem isn’t repeated in the future. Ordinarily, Techmeyer says they would have released that information shortly after it happened Monday.

The Jefferson County School District also sent home notices of the attempted abduction to its students Wednesday.

Suspect description:
— White male
— 35-40 years old
— 200 lbs
— Medium salt and pepper hair

His dark-blue or black sedan is similar to a vehicle driven in two other attempted lurings in Arvada last month. But investigators don’t know if the cases are connected.

Anyone with information can call the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 303-271-5612,