By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John Parish authorities are investigating an alleged attempted kidnapping of a 10-year-old Reserve girl Wednesday evening.

Capt. Dane Clement, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said the grandmother of the victim reported the incident to deputies around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

According to a release from the Sheriff’s Office, the girl, whose name was not released, was returning home from after-school tutoring when she was dropped off at a school bus stop on East 26th Street in Reserve, just a few blocks from her Melius Drive home. Clement said as the girl walked toward her home, an unidentified man approached, grabbed the girl’s shirt, covered her mouth and said he was going to “snatch her up.”

Clement said the girl told deputies that she was able to pull away from the man’s grasp and run away.

The release indicated the girl described the subject as a black male, 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighing about 175 pounds. She said the man was wearing a black T-shirt, black jacket, brown baseball cap, blue jeans and blue tennis shoes.

Clement said there were no witnesses to the incident, which took place just as darkness was setting in. He said deputies canvassed the area looking for the suspect but could not find anyone fitting the description.

Clement said detectives are working the incident as a priority case and are asking anyone with information to contact the St. John Sheriff’s Office at 985-652-6338.