PARKER, Colo. – Parker police are trying to identify a man who tried to lure an 11-year-old girl into his van Wednesday afternoon near the East-West Regional Trail just south of Auburn Hills Community Park.
Police said the girl, a young student, was walking northbound on Bradbury Ranch Drive near the trail around 3:15 p.m. when the man pulled up in a van, asked the girl if she needed a ride, and “tried to entice her into the vehicle.”
That area is adjacent to Auburn Hills park and just south of Prairie Crossing Elementary School.
The girl ran away from the man and watched as he turned east onto nearby Firebrick Drive, according to Parker police.
She described the man as an older white man with an average build, white/gray hair and a bald spot atop his head. He had a full beard of the same color, but no mustache, according to police.
The man had a gray or blue tattoo on his left forearm and was wearing a white t-shirt and black sunglasses at the time, the girl told police.
His van was two colors: silver on the top of it and black on the bottom. On Wednesday, it had mud on the lower part of its body and boxes stacked up in the backseat, with clothes hanging inside.
The police department says it is increasing patrols in the nearby neighborhoods, and asks parents to remind their children to be vigilant in staying away from strangers.
Anyone who has seen a van or man matching the descriptions, or who saw a similar one in the area Wednesday afternoon, is asked to call Parker Police Department Detective Wilson at 303-805-6561 or email at bwilson@parkeronline.org.