PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department released a sketch Thursday of the man they say tried to kidnap an 11-year-old girl.
The sketch matches the description of the suspect that police released Monday. The suspect is described as a black man with a very dark complexion. He has green eyes, a stud-style nose ring in his left nostril and was wearing a black hoody.
According to police, the girl was walking to school in the area of 22nd Avenue and Morningside Drive, which is east of the I-17 near 21st Avenue and just south of Union Hills Drive. The suspect approached her from behind. He grabbed her right arm and pulled it behind her back and placed his other arm over her face.
Police say the suspect started to speak to her when he was knocked down by a witness. That witness pointed a handgun at the suspect and told him to leave. The suspect was last seen running westbound on Morningside Drive toward the I-17.
The suspect is unknown to the victim, police say, and the incident was reported several days later.
The Phoenix Police Department is encouraging anyone with information to contact its Child Crimes Unit at 602-534-2121 or Silent Witness at 480-948-6377 or 480-837-8446 for Spanish.