A student accused a man of attempting to kidnap her earlier this week after she walked off her school bus in Worcester, Massachusetts, reported WCVB5.
Jose Palau, 37, reportedly saw the girl leave the school bus and begin to walk home. Then the suspect followed the girl, according to the news report, and began aggressively calling to her. He then allegedly tried to grab the victim and instructed her to get into a vehicle.
“I thought he was weird because of what he was saying. Then he made a comment that I was his daughter, then he said I was his best friend. So, he was just finding any way to try to make somebody say, ‘Go with him,’” Sailly Encarnacion, 16, told WCVB5.
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Encarnacion reportedly moved away from Palau and he wasn’t able to touch her. She ran into a nearby business and called the police.
WCVB5 said the suspect was confrontational and aggressive with the responding police officers. He was arrested and has reportedly been charged with attempted kidnapping, accosting someone of the opposite sex, assault, and a lewd and lascivious act.
Sailly Encarnacion, 16, of #Worcester says a man tried to convince her to go with him after she got off school bus. #wcvb pic.twitter.com/ytAkadEzuA
— David Bienick (@BienickWCVB) September 17, 2019