Arrest Made In Kidnap Attempt Of Girl, 13

OTAY MESA, CA – Police in the South Bay announced the arrest Friday of a suspect who allegedly tried to kidnap a 13-year-old girl this week as she walked home from school in Otay Mesa.

Jose Alfredo Plascencia, 50, was arrested around 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning after officers tracked him down in the 600 block of Dennery Road, San Diego police Capt. Alberto Leos said. It wasn't immediately clear how investigators identified Plascencia as a suspect in the alleged abduction attempt near Montgomery Middle School.

According to police, a motorist pulled up alongside a 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.

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The kidnapping attempt occurred about 5:15 p.m. in the 700 block of Picador Boulevard, police said. The victim 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 50s or early 60s 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," Leos said. "Through their investigation the subject was identified as a Jose Plascencia."

Officers arrested Plascencia Thursday morning on suspicion of felony attempted kidnapping and an unrelated misdemeanor warrant, Leos said. He was booked into the San Diego Central Jail a little after noon Thursday.

Jail records showed Plascencia was being held Friday morning in lieu of $220,000 bail on suspicion of felony attempted kidnapping and misdemeanor counts of annoying a child and sexual battery.

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--City News Service/Image via Renee Schiavone