Police in the South Bay have arrested the man accused of trying to kidnap a 13-year-old girl this week as she walked home from school in Otay Mesa West. 50-year-old Jose Plascencia was taken into custody around 8:30a.m. Thursday morning after officers tracked him down in the 600 block of Dennery Road.
It wasn't immediately clear how investigators identified Plascencia as a suspect in the alleged abduction attempt near Montgomery Middle School. According to police, Plascencia pulled up alongside the 13-year-old girl Tuesday as she walked home from school on an Otay Mesa roadside, grabbed her by the arm and made a failed attempt to pull her into his van.
The kidnapping attempt occurred about 5:15p.m. in the 700 block of Picador Boulevard, police said. The girl was able to break away from the man and run to safety.The would-be abductor, who was driving a black Mercedes-Benz van, was described as a white man in his 50's or early 60's with a full beard and a raspy voice. He was wearing gray pants, a grayish-green polo shirt and glasses, police said.
Southern division began an immediate investigation into the allegation, and identified Plascencia as the suspect. Officers arrested Plascencia Thursday morning on suspicion of felony attempted kidnapping and an unrelated misdemeanor warrant. He's in jail on $220,000 bail.
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