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Several Attempting Kidnappings Of West Covina Schoolchildren Under Investigation

WEST COVINA (CBSLA) – Authorities are investigating whether two men who allegedly tried to kidnap a 12-year-old West Covina boy as he was walking to school Thursday morning are responsible for similar incidents that occurred earlier this week.

At 7:20 a.m. Thursday, a boy was walking to Traweek Middle School, located at 1941 East Rowland Ave., when a man approached him in a four-door black Mercedes sedan, West Covina police report.

Traweek Middle School
Outside Traweek Middle School in West Covina, Calif. Sept. 6, 2019. (CBS2)

The driver tried to lure the boy into his car while another bicyclist in a ski mask came up behind the boy and attempted to shove him into a car, police said.

The boy escaped and reported the incident to school officials.

A mother told CBS2 Friday that a similar incident occurred to her 10-year-old daughter at around 1:20 p.m. Wednesday after she had gotten off a school bus and was walking home in the area of Workman and Ellen avenues, just under a mile from Traweek Middle School.

A man with a dog approached her and offered her a ride in his car. The girl said no and ran home.

"I acted right away when she came home and told me what happened," mother Katie Bush told CBS2.

Bush said officers responded, and then pulled over a sedan which matched the description the girl had provided, down to the dog.

"They came back and just told me that they had stopped somebody that sounded like the description we gave the car, and the fact he had a dog in the car with him," Bush told CBS2.

It's unclear what occurred during the traffic stop.

About two hours later, just after 3 p.m. Wednesday, a passerby called police to report that man in a black sedan was trailing a young girl in the area of Lark Ellen Avenue and Workman Avenue. However, police were unable to make contact with either the caller or the girl.

Police are trying to determine if the incidents are related. The driver in Thursday's incident was described as white, 20 to 30 years old, wearing sunglasses and a dark shirt. The bicyclist was described as Hispanic, in his 20s and wearing a ski mask and a black-hooded sweatshirt.

Anyone with information should call detectives at (626) 939-8688.

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