Deputies: Man tried to lure 12-year-old into car

Author: WINK NEWS
Published: Updated:

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- A Fort Myers man is under arrest after deputies say he tried to lure a 12-year-old girl into his vehicle.

Deputies arrested 35-year-old Pablo Cartagena and charged him with interference of child custody for trying to entice a minor to get into his vehicle through coercion.

Authorities were called to the area of New York Drive and Railroad Avenue shortly after 7 a.m. Friday morning.

The victim said she was walking to her school bus stop when a man with short curly hair in a red, older model vehicle waved to her and said “get in the car and I’ll give you $20.”

The girl ran home and the vehicle took off. When the girl arrived at her home, her parent called 911.

The victim was able to give deputies five of the six numbers to the license plate which authorities used to find a car matching the victim’s description.

Deputies were then able to locate the suspect as he parked and was in the process of exiting his burgundy Honda Accord. The victim was brought to the scene and positively identified the man as the one that tried to lure her into his vehicle.

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