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March 13, 2008

State Police help boost security at Woonsocket High

WOONSOCKET -- Six state troopers are working with the Woonsocket Police to beef up patrols around the city after a man attempted to abduct a Woonsocket High School girl Tuesday.

Acting Police Chief Eric Croce held a news conference today to announce that the city was beefing up patrols and to appeal to the public to report anything they might have seen connected to the incident which occurred on Elm Avenue where the girl said she was abducted on her way to school Tuesday at around 8:35 a.m. and on Wood Avenue and Mill Street where she escaped just a few minutes later when the man slowed for traffic.

Croce said that the State Police work with Woonsocket Police patrol the city during busy school hours when children are walking to and from school. There are 18 schools in the city. The state police will assist the Woonsocket Police until Tuesday, he said.

Police have no suspects, Croce said. “We are appealing to the public for help,” he said.

The girl was walking on Elm Street when the car approached her near Jervis Street. A man driving the car started a conversation with the girl and when she responded he stopped the car near Jervis, got out and forced her inside the vehicle.

The girl was not in the car long. She jumped out of the car and ran away for help when the man slowed for traffic. Supt. of Schools Maureen Macera said there has been another incident where a fourth grade girl was talked to by a man in a car but ran back into the building. Police are investigating whether the incidents are related or isolated.

-- Journal staff writer Tatiana Pina

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 4:38 PM | Permalink

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