NORTH SALT LAKE – Police are investigating an attempted kidnapping after two young girls said a strange man tried to grab one of them.
North Salt Lake Police said the incident occurred last Wednesday at about 7:30 p.m. at Palmquist Park, which is located at 350 East Center Street in North Salt Lake.
Two girls, ages 8 and 10, were playing when they saw a strange man and decided to leave. The girls told police that the man grabbed one of their arms as they were jumping over a wall to go home.
The sister of the girl who was grabbed picked up an empty soda bottle and hit the man with it, and he left.
Chief Craig Black, North Salt Lake Police Department, said they are investigating the incident, and he assured people of the park’s safety.
“We are very confident right now that we don’t have a situation where parents can’t let their children come to the park,” he said. “Certainly with younger children we encourage them to be supervised by an adult or an older child, but we feel confident that our parks are safe and this city is safe, and we don’t have an ongoing problem.”
The girls said the suspect was wearing a black mask, black gloves and a black hooded sweatshirt. There was another reported attempted abduction case in Salt Lake City last Tuesday, but police said they do not believe the incidents are related.
