Authorities say that a quick-thinking 12-year-old girl got the better of a man who tried to lure her into his car as she walked to school, giving Chicago police all the information they needed to locate the suspect.
She was making her way to class Monday morning when she noticed a car slowly following her on the 2600 block of West Bryn Mawr in West Ridge. The driver rolled down his window and waved her over, but she refused and took a picture of his license plate, then caught up with a woman who was walking another child to school and began walking with them, prosecutors said.
When the girl arrived at Jamieson Elementary School, 5650 North Mozart, she told a teacher and the vice principal about what happened. Staff members noticed a man sitting in a parked car outside the school who matched the description given by the girl. They confronted him, took pictures of him and the car, and he left.
The police checked the license plate number and contacted the registered owner. He told them that his son had stolen the car a few days earlier, prosecutors said.
Cops arrested the son, 24-year-old Yahya Rashid, on Tuesday.
Investigators confronted him about the 12-year-old’s allegations and he admitted to seeing a “young lady” on the corner who was “wearing nasty pants that made him feel dirty,” prosecutors said.
Rashid allegedly admitted to following the girl and said he intended to make her his wife or girlfriend.
Prosecutors charged him with child luring, possessing a stolen motor vehicle, and theft. He has no criminal history.
Judge Maryam Ahmad set his bail at $180,000. To go home on electronic monitoring, he must post 10% of that amount. She said he must stay away from anyone under 18 and Jamieson Elementary School if he gets out of jail.
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