By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A 13-year-old girl told St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s deputies she was nearly kidnapped Wednesday afternoon after she got of a school bus in LaPlace, according to a release from the Sheriff’s Office.

Capt. Dane Clement, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, said deputies responded to the 1900 block of Cambridge Drive at 3:09 p.m. Wednesday after the girl’s mother reported that a male suspect tried to grab her daughter as she was walking home from the bus stop.

Clement said the girl told deputies that as she was walking home a “strange man” stepped out from behind a tree, grabbed her arm, and said, “little girl come here.” She told deputies that she pulled away, ran home, and told her mother what happened.

The girl gave deputies a detailed description of the man. She said he was about 5 foot, 7 inches tall and had a high faded haircut. He also had a dark mark, possibly a mole, on the top of his right hand.

The girl said the man spoke with a deep voice and wore a glass or diamond earring in his left ear. He was wearing an orange shirt and dark blue jeans. Clement said deputies canvassed the area looking for the man to no avail.

Clement said as a precautionary measure, the Sheriff’s Office has ordered extra patrols in the Cambridge Subdivision. He said that although this incident is the only such incident reported in the area, the Sheriff’s Office is asking parents of children that ride school buses to be extra cautious and have someone greet children getting off school busses. Deputies have noted that, in general, the neighborhood has plenty vehicular traffic, and pedestrians walk about.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office Detectives at 985-359-8769 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.