In yet another frightening incident in Lakewood, a young girl was chased down, in what the mother says was an apparent attempted abduction.
Police confirm to TLS they received a call at about 6:15 PM on Sunday, reporting the incident.
The mother relates to TLS that about that time, her 9-year-old daughter walked outside her parents’ home to get something from her car, when a black car pulled up alongside her.
“A black male jumped out, and chased her half way down the block and through two backyards until my daughter started screaming “HELP ME”, “HELP ME”, and he ran back to his car and drove off,” the mother told TLS.
“The man never said a word to her and is described as an older black male, thin build, medium height and balding,” Lakewood Detective Liutenant Greg Staffordsmith tells TLS.
The vehicle was reportedly an older black vehicle, police say, but no detailed description was available.
TLS has also learned, that at approximately 7:45 PM, a similar incident occurred in the area of 7th Street and Nowlan Avenue, with the same suspect description.
The incident comes about one week after a luring in the North Lake Drive area, as well as several other attempted lurings.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Lakewood Police Department at 732-363-0200 ext. 5331
How frightening!!!!!! Where was this?? Please report the location so we can be more informed!!
That’s so racist. Why does the article have to say it was a “black male?”
It was written so that people should know who look out for. If not you would never know if it was a White Male, Mexican Male etc.
STOP reading into everything.
get these monsters off our streets
Would it be so far fetched to consider making Lakewood a town with cams on each street corner?
to #2 THE MALE WAS BLACK!! should they have written white?
To Aaron z
It has to give a description
So we know how stay alert for anyone resembling the suspect
@ Aaron: Just for the record ” black male” is not a racist term . It’s descriptive word! There is nothing wrong with being black or being male!
why does it have to say it was a male – gender discrimination
why does it have to say he was balding alopecia discrimination
why does it have to say older – age discriminiation
why does it have to say medium height height discrimination
and worst of all THIN weight discrimination
Perhaps they are IDENTIFYING the perpetrator so that PEOPLE might FIND him.
Re: black male comment: And what should it say?? White male? ? People need to know details. Racist or not. This is a frightening incident. No time for politeness here.
Aaron z how else would you like them to describe the man? We do all need to be more careful and this information is important!
Dear Aaron.
It’s necessary to say the suspect is a Black male so the police and public have an accurate description of who they’re looking for. It isn’t racist to mention skin color when describing a suspect. What do you want them to say, “Police are looking for a man in a car”? That wouldn’t be much help, would it?
I saw an older black car today with a very scary looking black male in it. I think this guy is still around town. Watch your children. Teach them to run and yell for help.
It would seem to me that our Police Dept, nice and sincere as they are, are severely undermanned as far as both marked and unmarked patrolling goes. Not to mention on the Investigative side, through no fault of their own.
It’s been a month since the horrific atrocity perpetrated at the Sons of Israel shul and yet…..nothing.
It always occurs to me when I see the 18+ marked PD vehicles parked, during all times and shifts, in their lit across from the Library that perhaps a handful might be parked unmanned at prominent places around town and moved daily as a deterrent.
Why doesn’t someone in the area steak him out?! Hiding doesn’t solve the problem – getting the individual off the streets does for everyone.
To Aaron Z: this is not about racism, if it would’ve been a white male it would’ve said so. If it would’ve been Latino, Hispanic, Jewish, Chinese, or Russian it would’ve said so as well. This is about information for safety. Don’t create problems.
This was happened in the Park Ave area.
The incident took place on East 8th between park ave and Noland. The man chased the girl from Park ave to Noland ave. The man was African American, average height and weight, and bald. He drove an older black jeep. There was a woman in the front seat waiting in the jeep for this creep.
All of this information came from a family member of the girl.
Thats a terribly far run for a girl being chased. This dude must be tracked down and locked up!
The woman in the jeep was probably in on the deal.
why whenever there is road work do we have lakewood police officers controlling traffic.
i come from nyc and the construction company is always responsible to control traffic , not the police who are left to control crime.
They could have written that it was an African American instead of saying it was a black
@daniel.
NJ law requires it. (Thanks to unions) the construction companies reimburse the township for the hours (and then bill the taxpayer for it)
Welcome to NJ.
Its all about jobs…..
Good question, @daniel. It’s not a Lakewood thing, but a New Jersey thing. The police are the ones at a construction site pursuant to some law or another. Correct me if I’m wrong.
What is almost as scary is this child was chased on foot, so the miscreant was not only on the street after leaving his car, but he had time to walk/run back. Where were the men of our community????? Just watching??? This area is not exactly Montana.
To @all racists: there are many people (Jamaicans, Dominicans) that are neither African nor American and prefer the term black.
To everyone else: PLEASE, instead of noting “older black car”, try to look at the license plate! That’s why they’re on the car. Even if you can get 2-3 letters, it will help immensely!