Decatur Police List Abduction Attempts, But Say None Happened In City

The Decatur Police Department has issued a community advisory in reponse to worried parents who've been asking about attempted child abductions.

Assistant Chief Keith Lee said despite reports on community message boards and blogs, no abduction attempts have occurred inside the Decatur City Limits.

However, one suspicious incident (No. 5, at the bottom of the advisory) occurred on Sycamore Drive just outside the city limits.

Lee said two attempted abductions have been reported in unincorporated DeKalb County and one in the Candler Park area of Atlanta. In Cobb County, an incident that raised suspicions turned out to be unfounded.

Here is the community advisory in full:

Community Advisory

During the past two weeks there have been several emails circulating in reference to attempted child abductions in the metro Atlanta area.  While there have been no reports of this type of activity in the City of Decatur, the Decatur Police Department has contacted other law enforcement agencies to determine if a specific threat exists.  The following is a synopsis of information gathered by the Decatur Police Department:

Incident #1

February 21, 2012

Dekalb PD

Two young girls were approached by an African-American male with dredlocks who attempted to grab one of the girls.  The girls were able to escape.  This incident occurred near Hariston Road in Stone Mountain.

Incident #2

March 4, 2012

DeKalb PD

A young girl was grabbed by a male wearing all black clothing and a mask.  The abduction occurred in an apartment complex near Hariston Road.  The male took the girl into nearby woods, where she was able to escape.

Incident #3

March 12, 2012

Atlanta PD

An African-American male driving a silver sports utility vehicle with a bike rack attempted to abduct a girl in Candler Park. The girl was able to escape.

Incident #4

Cobb County PD

The boy was walking home from an afterschool practice when a white male in a silver 4dr car with a bike and bike rack on the rear pulled up alongside him and told him to come to the car.  The boy picked up a rock and threatened to throw it and the suspect sped off.  The boy continued to walk and the suspect circled back around and pulled up alongside him again and more aggressively told him he better come to the car.  The boy picked up a bunch of rocks to throw and the suspect again sped off.  The boy did not tell anyone about it until a week or more later and he told another boy whose mother overheard it and called police.  Then an email went around the neighborhood about it.  A women then saw a white male in a silver Mazda with a bike/rack and called 911 and the police located him in his driveway and he told police he was out mapping mileage for a bike ride but he asked a weird question when stopped “Is this a felony?”. He has not charged.  A line-up was shown to the boy who did not ID anyone and the case was recently suspended but not unfounded. 

Incident #5

DeKalb County PD

Sycamore Drive (unincorporated DeKalb County)

An email alert was sent out by a neighborhood watch organization advising residents of a suspicious green Honda station wagon.  The following facts were discovered:

A city resident was walking on Sycamore Drive, outside the City of Decatur when he saw a green Honda station wagon driving slowly down the street.  The vehicle was near two juvenile females who were walking on the sidewalk.  The vehicle drove away as the complainant approached the juveniles.  The complainant stated as he continued walking an adult female yelled to him.  He stated the adult female inquired if he had observed the license tag on the vehicle.  He stated, “he had not.” The complainant stated he assumed the adult female was the parent of the juveniles, but did not know her or where she lived.  The complainant stated the DeKalb County Police Department was contacted.  No report of the incident has been located with DeKalb County Police.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article had a shorter description of the Cobb County incident. Police provided new information after the article was posted.