Man Tried To Kidnap Worcester Student: Police

WORCESTER, MA — A Worcester man was charged with attempted kidnapping and is due in court on Tuesday. Jose Palau, 37, is accused of following a girl off of her school bus and trying to get her into his car on Monday afternoon.

Palau saw the young girl get off of her school bus near King Philip Road on Monday and started to follow her as she walked home, police said. As he followed her, he started "calling her aggressively," police said, leading the girl to pick up the pace of her walking. When he got close enough, he tried to grab her and walked toward a car and told the girl to get inside with him, police said.

As he kept trying to grab the girl, he told her that her mother had sent him to pick her up — she pulled away and was able to duck into a nearby business and call police, according to police.

When police got to the business where the call was made, on West Boylston Street, Palau was waiting outside. According to police, Palau got "extremely confrontational and aggressive," and made several, "inappropriate gestures and lewd comments." At one point, the young girl spotted the officers and flagged them down while she was in the business and Palau saw this and said, “That’s my girl!”

Outside of the courthouse during Palau's arraignment, the teen told reporters she was wearing headphones while walking home when she noticed Palau following her. "I heard him call me a pretty girl," she said, "He keeps saying that I have to go with him — 'you need to come with me' that my mom's with him."

The girl told police she had never seen Palau before. He was charged with attempted kidnapping, accosting someone of the opposite sex, assault, and a lewd and lascivious act.