Man Tried to Snatch Two Girls at Bus Stop, Police Say

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) Rock Hill police are investigating an attempted kidnapping after two girls, 10 and 11, told police a man tried to grab them while they were walking from their school bus stop on Tuesday afternoon.

The two girls, who are cousins, are students at Independence Elementary School. They told police the suspect was driving a burgundy SUV, and that they were walking on Patriot Parkway by Cherry Road when the suspect circled around them three times, and then grabbed one of them by the backpack. The girls said the suspect told them to go to a park, but they screamed and ran away.

Now parents in Rock Hill’s Gable Oaks community say they are keeping an extra close eye on their children.

“It’s very scary, very scary. I’ll be watching them like a hawk,” said Paris Morton, whose six-year-old daughter is riding the school bus for the first time this week.

“It just breaks my heart to know that you have predators out there looking for little girls and little boys,” said Jacqueline Hare, who says the Gable Oaks Apartment Complex is normally peaceful and quiet.

Lt. Michael Chavis with the Rock Hill Police Department says students should go out in groups, and children should never be quiet when they are in a dangerous situation.

But Lt. Michael Chavis says quiet is something children should NOT be in a dangerous situation.

“The louder you scream, the more attention you’re going to draw,” said Chavis, “And that is the one thing people who are committing a crime don’t like – attention on them.”

Police have released a description of the suspect.  They say he is a black man, possibly in his 60’s, with slick black and grey hair.  He is described as wearing a  uniform with a black collared shirt, khaki pants, and Nike shoes.

Police are reviewing surveillance footage from surrounding business and homes, but they do need the public’s help. If you have any information about what happened, please contact police.

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