MARYSVILLE — A Marysville man with a criminal past has been arrested for investigation of trying to lure an 8-year-old boy into his vehicle.
The suspect, 31, was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on Thursday for probation and parole violations. On Friday, Marysville police added the luring allegation.
On April 14, a man offered the boy money and video games if he would get into his vehicle, police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux said.
The boy remembered what he had been taught in school about talking with strangers. He ran away because he didn’t know the man. He then told his mother who contacted police.
Detectives were able to make a composite sketch of the man based on the boy’s description. The boy’s mother told police that her son told her the man was driving a large white vehicle.
On Wednesday evening, the mother of an 11-year-old girl called police to report additional information. Her daughter is a student crossing guard at Shoultes Elementary School in north Marysville. The girl reported that a white minivan repeatedly drove past her that morning. Each time he would drive past, the driver would smile and wave. He made her feel uncomfortable, Lamoureux said.
After school, the girl saw the same van and was able to describe the driver. She gave a description similar to the one provided by the boy.
On Thursday morning, police officers staked out the area around Shoultes Elementary looking for the van.
The mother of the girl reported it twice had driven by the area near the crossing guards. The woman was able to provide a partial license plate number and said the white van was an older model Toyota.
Officers were able to identify and find the suspect based on the partial license plate number.
They went to the man’s home and arrested him on the probation violations. He resembled the man described by the boy.
The suspect has numerous convictions for drug and property crimes. He was last in prison in 2013 after he was found with methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana while being booted from the Tulalip Resort and Casino.
Lamoureux praised the students and others for helping identify the suspect.
“This is an excellent example of how when police, schools and the community work together we are able to arrest bad guys and get them off the streets,” he said.
The Marysville School District earlier posted a warning on its website.
It said the luring incident occurred in the Berry Farm neighborhood. Shoultes Elementary School notified parents when they learned of the incident and shared a reminder about safety and using the buddy system.
“We are very proud of those two kids,” Lamoureux said. “They both did everything right by recognizing a bad situation and running away or telling an adult about what happened.”
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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