WOODSTOCK — A homeless man has been charged with child abduction after police said he tried to lure a girl into his car Wednesday night.
Bond was set at $50,000 for 42-year-old Theodore J. Miller. He must post $5,000 to be freed.
About 6 p.m., Woodstock police responded to the parking lot of the Walgreen’s at 305 S. Eastwood Drive for a report of an attempted child abduction.
Officers met with a woman who said her 10-year-old daughter had been walking into the store from the parking lot when she was approached by a white male who made repeated attempts to verbally lure the girl into his car.
The mother, who was in her car in the parking lot, saw the interaction and called her daughter back to the safety of their car.
Miller then fled, police said, as the woman called 911.
The offender was described as a white male, about 6-feet tall, weighing between 175 and 200 pounds with long brown hair and facial hair. His vehicle was described as a gold or tan 1996 Toyota Corolla with a broken driver’s side tail light.
Miller was in custody by 9:30 p.m., said Woodstock Police Chief Robert Lowen.
Court records show that Miller was convicted of burglary in 2006 and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Lowen said he did not know whether the attempted abduction was related to recent attempted abductions in Crystal Lake, but that the Crystal Lake Police Department had been notified of the arrest.
In the first Crystal Lake incident near West Elementary School last week, the suspect was described as a man between 30 and 40 years old, clean-shaven, with tan skin and dark brown or black hair.
The 9-year-old female victim picked out a Volkswagen Passat when shown different pictures of cars, but said the car was gold colored and had four doors.
On Tuesday, a student near Coventry Elementary School was approached by two unidentified men during the afternoon.
The vehicle involved in this incident was described as a black, two-door, older model with a “boxy rear” and partial license plate of “646.”
Read the original article from the Northwest Herald.
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