Report of Attempted Kidnaping Ignites Fear : Safety: The girl, 14, says she fought off an attacker half a mile from her school in La Crescenta. Parents and schools take security measures.

LA CRESCENTA —  A report that a 14-year-old girl fought off a would-be kidnaper as she walked home from school in La Crescenta has spread worries over student safety from the San Fernando Valley, where authorities are hunting a suspected serial molester, to the Crescenta Valley.

“We don’t expect it here,” said Joanne McBirney, whose two children attend Monte Vista Elementary School. “When it hits close to home, it is frightening and distressing. . . . Children should be able to walk to (and from school) without fear.”

The 14-year-old victim had told sheriff’s officials last week that a man in his mid-20s grabbed her and demanded that she get into his cream-colored pickup truck at the corner of Rosemont and Altura avenues--less than half a mile from Rosemont Middle School.

When she refused, she said, the man punched her in the back, but “she was able to break free of the attacker by administering a swift kick to the groin area, which caused him to fall to the ground,” said Sgt. Dan Cox of the Crescenta Valley sheriff’s station in La Crescenta.

Sheriff’s deputies have made no arrests and have no composite drawings or leads.

Cox said he does not believe that the attack is related to the serial molestations of at least 26 children from Canoga Park to North Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley.

The girl in the La Crescenta incident described a male Latino, about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes, Cox said. The Valley molester has been described as a black man between 5 feet 10 and 6 feet 1, 35 to 45 years old, with short, graying black hair.

The girl did not report the Nov. 15 incident until last Wednesday, when a teacher heard about it and alerted administrators, said Anne Gibson, assistant principal at Rosemont.

“She was just afraid that her mother would be mad at her,” Gibson said. “That was why she had not reported it.”

“I was sure that she wasn’t making up the story, and anything that resembles criminal activity we immediately involve the sheriff’s (department),” she said.

Administrators alerted parents Thursday to the incident by recording a message on the school’s voice-mail message system, Gibson said. Parents normally use the system to obtain updated information about the school, its schedule and other events.

“We felt that in light of parents’ sensitivity to this issue, it was a good time to just inform students and inform parents so they can reiterate to students what they should do if they are being followed,” Gibson said.

In addition to safety tips, the message mentioned the attempted kidnaping and another case in which a girl thought she was being followed by a white Camaro while on her way to school last Thursday morning. Cox had no information Monday on whether a report was filed.

The next day, Friday, administrators at Rosemont and Monte Vista schools sent students home with letters addressing the subject of school safety, school officials and parents said.

Parents on Monday said they were pleased with the administrators’ response. They also have taken safety measures of their own by arranging rides to and from school for children who normally walk by themselves or in groups.

“The parents feel quite confident that it’s all under control,” said Danette Erickson, a vice president of Rosemont’s Parent-Teacher Assn., who has an eighth-grader attending the school. “I don’t think there’s any hysteria at Rosemont. I think we’re very calm.

“The irony is that our PTA meeting theme for November was safety,” Erickson said.

Peter Steur, 49, was one of the parents who decided to have his 13-year-old daughter driven home by car.

“I didn’t want to leave any bases uncovered,” Steur said. “Normally, my daughter walks home with another gal.

“I know that the police can’t handle it,” Steur said. “I know that parents, especially in this area of La Crescenta, are very concerned about their kids. I don’t think anything more can be done.”

On Monday, most of the students who had no rides home walked down Rosemont Avenue in pairs or larger groups.