REDMOND, Wash. — Redmond Police arrested a man who officers say tried to pull a girl into his car Sunday night. On Tuesday, the man was charged with commercial sex abuse of a minor, luring, and attempted kidnapping.
“From what I know about this incident, the girls were extremely lucky,” said Jim Fuda of Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound.
At about 11:25 p.m., police officers were called to Edge Skate Park in the 8400 block of 161st Avenue Northeast.
Two teenage sisters were reported to have been walking to the 7-Eleven on Northeast 83rd Street to get Slurpees when a man in a car approached them and asked them to get in.
The girls refused and continued into the convenience store.
When they left the store, they noticed the same car in the parking lot. Feeling suspicious because of the earlier incident, one of the girls took pictures of the man and his car.
The girls began walking to the nearby skate park when the same man suddenly walked up and grabbed one of them. Both girls fought off the man, and he fled, according to Redmond Police.
“We see a guy walking up on us. I turn, he lunges at me, so I push him, start punching him, scratching, grabbing the shirt,” said victim Adionka Jackson.
“They were in pairs, they recognized the same gentleman that had asked them to get in the car,” said Fuda. “Then they fought the guy off when he tried to grab one of them.”
After police were called, the man was seen walking in the area and was stopped by officers. Authorities report the man is a Redmond local arrested not far from his hometown.
“It was just really scary but the most thing that I was really scared about was my sister, because he was mostly really going after her,” said victim Faith Jackson.
Redmond local Chris Pibbernow woke up to the sound of sirens Sunday at around 11:30 p.m. Pibbernow says he watched the manhunt unfold from his apartment.
“We hear sirens from time to time but when you hear them to that magnitude, with that many police cars everywhere, we knew something was up,” said Pibbernow. “We’re so used to such a safe environment out here and we kind of take it for granted.”
The man’s bail is set at $250,000.
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