A 50-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday, April 24, after allegedly attempting to kidnap two girls who were on their way to school in Moreno Valley, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement released Thursday.
On Wednesday at around 9:20 a.m., sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported kidnapping in the area of Cactus Avenue and Perris Boulevard in Moreno Valley. Thursday’s statement said a stranger pulled alongside two young girls walking to school and tried to pull one of the girls into his car.
The girl managed to break free of his grasp and notified a school administrator of what had occurred once they got to school, deputies said in a news release.
The girls provided deputies with a detailed description of the suspect and vehicle. The vehicle was found around 10:45 a.m. the same day near Ormista Drive and Searson Drive in Moreno Valley/
Rene Ramirez, 50, of Indio, was identified as the driver of the vehicle and was arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnapping and annoying and molesting children, the sheriff’s news release said. Riverside County jail logs show that Ramirez was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center and held on $1 million bail.
