Police search for man who tried to molest boys in park

SEATTLE -- Seward Park is as busy as any during the summer.

There are day campers all over and swimmers, too, with life watching over everyone.

When something like this happens it makes everyone feel a little less safe.

"Well I'm certainly unhappy about it and I think it is a very unfortunate incident,” grandmother Vivian Montoya said.

Investigators say boys were inside this bathroom, near the Seward Park beach on Lake Washington when the man walked in.

"Said some inappropriate things and he also tried to pull one of the boy's pants down,” Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt said.

Plus, according to the report, he actually touched one of the boys.

Fortunately, the boys got away and, along with their camp counselor, alerted lifeguard Jack Dunnington.

"The first thing I did was alert my manager and he came over and we got the story from a couple of different kids,” Dunnington said.

Then they called police, as the suspect tried to leave the parking lot.

"We called police immediately.  That`s generally the procedure and tried to keep him in the area, got the license plate and at that point we turned it over to police,” Dunnington said.

Police tracked the license plate to a home, but came up empty.

The car is described as a green 1990s model Toyota Corolla.

The suspect is an Asian man in his 40s, 5-foot-11, 200 pounds.

He was wearing gray shorts, red shoes and no shirt.

"The boys did the right thing and that`s what we encourage people to do, you know, if you see something, say something,” Witt said.

Neighbors here say everyone must play a role in protecting children.

"We need excellent supervision in all the parks. We need to support our park system. We have lifeguards here but every parent and grandparent is responsible for watching out for everybody, I think, it’s just the way we build community,” Montoya said.

Police said as the suspect drove away, witnesses saw another man in the car with him, described only as an elderly in his 90s.

Anyone with information is urged to call 911.