POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – The Broward Sheriff's Office has released a sketch of a man deputies said tried to abduct an 8-year-old girl in Pompano Beach last week.
According to the incident report, the girl was walking to the bus stop Tuesday morning when she was approached by a white, possibly Hispanic man in his 30s at 3103 NW Third Ave.
She told deputies that the man pulled up beside her and asked if she wanted candy. She said he then asked her if she wanted a dollar and if she needed a ride to school. Deputies said the girl became fearful and ran back to her home and told her mother that a man had tried to rape her.
"I was shaking and I thought he was strange," the girl told Local 10 News reporter Hatzel Vela.
On her way home, a neighbor who was also walking in the area asked the girl if everything was OK. She called 911 and said that the same man had waved to her before approaching the child.
The girl's mother told the responding deputy that she had told her daughter to wait for herself or her sister to walk her to the bus stop, but said her daughter didn't listen and headed out on her own.
"Luckily she did what I've told her -- don't talk to strangers and just run," said the girl's mother.
Deputies said the man was driving a black car, possibly a Cadillac. The license plate was unable to be read due to a flower design on the tag.
Follow Local 10 News on Twitter @WPLGLocal10