2nd attempted child abduction on same street

WHITE CENTER -- King County sheriff's deputies are warning neighbors to lock their doors and windows.

There was another bold attempt to kidnap a child, the second one in two weeks, and once again the bad guy got away.

Both attempts happened on 3rd Avenue SW in White Center.

"My window was wide open because it was hot in my room and I heard some rattling on the fence,” Priscilla Pliego said of the Monday night incident.

It was one of the scariest nights of Pliego's life.

"I got up and I was going to tell my stepdad of what happened, and I turned my back and started walking out the door. Something told me to grab my son and when I turned around, I saw a pale hand pushed into my (window) screen into my room and I screamed,” Pliego said.

Someone was apparently trying to steal her son Caleb.

Pliego's stepfather heard her scream.

He ran after the would-be intruder.

"I jumped out the window and I looked over the fence and I saw the guy.  I ran around the gate chasing him to get him, but the cops came and I lost him,” stepfather Alfredo Ma said.

King County sheriff’s Sgt. Cindi West said, "One of our deputies spotted a red Mazda pickup speeding from the area, ran a stop sign and apparently was trying to get away. The deputy stopped the vehicle and before he had a chance to walk up and contact the driver, a female passenger got out of the vehicle and the vehicle sped off."

The woman got away, and the man later crashed the pickup. Deputies found it had been stolen.

Police believe the man who stuck his hand through Pliego's window is the same man who tried to abduct a child from another house two doors down on June 2.

In that incident, the man walked into a fenced backyard, picked up the child and tried to run away with the child's mother in pursuit.

"I went after him and he fell. He tripped and, as he fell, my son fell with him. As soon as my son was on the ground, I jumped on top of my son,” mom Melissa said.

The man got away.

Sheriff's deputies believe the man may live in the neighborhood.

"Something is going on. We believe that the suspect is familiar with the neighborhood, probably frequents the neighborhood, because he's aware of where these children are living,” West said.

Parents like Priscilla Pliego are understandably upset and, until the man is caught, watching their children a little closer.

"He almost went inside my room and he went inside the other person's yard, it's just ... it's a mom's worst nightmare,” Pliego said

The suspect is described as a white man with a thin build. He was wearing a gray hoodie and khaki shorts when he was last seen.

Even though the weather is getting warmer, police urge everyone to make sure doors and windows  are closed and locked at all times, especially in this White Center neighborhood.

Anyone with information about these two attempted abductions are urged to call 911.