MIAMI – Miami police are searching for a woman wanted for questioning in connection with an attempted abduction of a 5-year-old girl that occurred last week on a Miami-Dade transit bus.
The incident was reported just after 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area of 3501 NW 12th Ave.
Police released surveillance video Monday, which captured the woman inside the bus.
Detectives need your assistance in identifying the female seen on the video below. She is wanted in an Abduction Attempt that occurred on 9-5-18 inside of a Miami-Dade transit bus. If you know who she is, please call Miami Police at 305-603-6370 or @CrimeStopper305 pic.twitter.com/bWwctcZrez
— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) September 10, 2018
According to a news release, the victim boarded the bus with her mother and took a seat toward the rear of the bus while her mother found a seat toward the front.
Witnesses told police that the woman asked the victim where her mother was and then told the girl to get off the bus with her.
Police said the girl refused and the woman extended her arm toward the victim and once again asked her to get off the bus with her.
The victim refused a second time and the woman got off the bus alone a short time later, witnesses told police.
"Instead of the suspect in this case saying, you know what. Let me go up to the bus driver and say, 'Hey, there's a child by herself,' or just standing up and saying, 'Is anyone with this child here?' she takes it upon herself to say, 'Exit the bus with me.' What could she have done outside of the bus that she couldn't have done while she was sitting in the bus?'" Officer Michael Vega said.
Authorities said the girl told her mother what happened and they notified the bus driver.
The driver stopped the bus and called police, authorities said.
Detectives said two witnesses corroborated the victim's statements.
Anyone with information about the woman's identity is asked to call the Miami Police Department at 305-603-6370 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.