Two young girls nearly abducted on Detroit's east side

DETROIT (WJBK) - In the span of 30 minutes Wednesday morning, at two locations two miles apart, two little girls said a man tried to lure them into their cars. They gave police the exact same physical description. 

The news of two different abductions within 30 minutes apart has Andrea Harris in disbelief - and it has more cops than usual on that side of the city.

"I never let my kids walk alone because I have daughters, it's terrible," Harris said. "Want to always keep our girls safe but it's hard to keep them safe because they can't even walk down the neighborhood without someone trying to pull them into cars."

The first call came in by a 16-year-old girl who was walking to school along Shakespeare near 8 Mile. She was approached by a man in a dark color four door vehicle with tinted windows. He grabbed her arm but she fought back and was able to escape. 

"Thankfully she put that struggle up because that kept her from getting pulled into that car," DPD commander Charles Mahone said.

Then another call came in just 30 minutes later. About 2 miles away, an 11 year old girl was walking to school when she was approached by a man matching the same physical description. He also tried to pull her into the car but she too was able to get away. 

"In both cases we have an older black male preying on young girls," Mahone said.

The second happened by several schools near Morang and Nottingham and the girl said the man was driving a yellow four-door car. For that reason, police can't say for sure it's the same suspect. 

Police are looking for a black man in his 40s, about 6 foot 2 with a scruffy beard.

"I mean it's sad because little kids can't walk by themselves without you having to look over your shoulder and wondering that someone is going to snatch them up," neighbor Lee Wililams said.

Williams, a father and grandfather, says until this guy is caught he's going to be on watch for someone who doesn't belong. 

"I have to sit out here and watch them because you never know what's going through someone's mind," he said.