Sketch released of Palos Verdes Estates kidnapping suspect

Police are still looking for two suspects in an attempted kidnapping that occurred Thursday in Palos Verdes Estates.

They have released a sketch of one of the suspects, who is described as a white, middle-aged male with a medium build, tan skin and dark brown hair cut close to his head. They do not have any information on the second suspect.

The incident took place at 3:30 p.m. when an 11-year-old boy was walking home from a bus stop near Coronel Plaza and Via Margarita, according to a police report.

A brown Chevy van pulled up alongside the boy and the driver asked for directions to “the promenade.”

When the boy took out his phone to look for directions, the driver asked him to come closer to the vehicle so he could hear him better, police said.

As the boy approached the van, he heard the passenger side door open, and he felt a second person grab his backpack from behind and try to pull him into the van, police said.

“From that point on I squirmed and bolted straight to my house,” the boy told NBC4.

As he ran, he heard the van speed away from the area.

The boy was not able to see the second person involved in the kidnapping attempt, but he described the van’s driver as having a patch of lighter skin on his cheek and said he was wearing a tank top.

Police say the van had three stripes running along the side, and the middle stripe was either white or silver. The van also had tinted windows and brown, horizontal blinds.

------------

For the Record, June 1, 8:39 a.m.: An earlier version of this story quoted a police spokesperson who said there was no promenade nearby, but there is a mall called the Promenade on the Peninsula in Rolling Hills.

------------

Anyone with information about the attempted kidnapping is asked to contact the Palos Verdes Estates police at (310) 378-4211. Tipsters who would like to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (800) 222-8477.

Follow me @DeborahNetburn