A man who tried to pull a 13-year-old girl into an SUV last week in north suburban Skokie was scared off after the girl hit him with a string of padlocks, police said.
The girl was walking from Old Orchard Junior High to Niles North High School about 3:20 p.m. on Jan. 20 when a blue SUV pulled into the parking lot of Golf Galaxy at 4831 Golf Rd., according to a statement from Skokie police.
A man got out of the SUV and walked toward the girl, asking for directions to a nearby restaurant, police said. When she started giving him directions, he tried to pull her toward the SUV.
The girl then reached into her backpack, pulled out “a few metal padlocks on a string” and hit the man in the jaw, police said. The man got back in the SUV and drove away.
The girl told authorities the man spoke with an accent and was missing his right thumb and index finger, and possibly his right middle finger, police said. He’s described as a 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-9 man in his 30s with a heavy build and black hair.
He was wearing a two-toned blue jacket, blue jeans and brown boots, police said.
The SUV is described as a one-toned blue Honda Element between 2006 and 2011 with no roof rack, police said.
Anyone with information should call Skokie police at (847) 982-5900 or the crime tip hotline at (847) 933-8477.
