Chicago Lawn child luring prompts police search

Police are issuing an alert after a man tried to lure a 10-year-old girl into a car on Chicago's Southwest Side.

It happened at about 5:30 Thursday night in the 6900 block of South California Avenue in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.

Kaylen Woodard is just a regular 7-year-old boy who says he knew it was up to him to help his friend not be kidnapped, though Saturday night police are warning people in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood to be on alert, while also reminding parents to not let their kids play outside unattended.

Police say the man tried to take the girl into a white convertible with red seats. The 7-year-old boy tried to help the girl but the man hit him. Neither child was hurt.

"She was riding her scooter. I was riding my bike," 6-year-old Kaylen said.

Kaylen knows the rules. He can ride his bike on the sidewalk in front of his house, just to the end of the block and back. Last Thursday, he and his next door neighbor Marcy were playing after school.

They weren't twenty feet from their front doors when a stranger got out of his car and tried to abduct the 10-year-old girl.

"He tried to hold her mouth," said Kaylen.

Kaylen could have run. Instead, he tried to fight the man off his friend.

"The only way she got away is because I kicked him in the back of the leg and the outside of his leg," he said.

Marcy's mom says she had just gone to look out the window to check up on her daughter when she saw her running towards the house.

"She was running with the scooter in her hand," said Tracey Edwards. "She came in the house and she was panting. And she was explaining that a man had grabbed her."

Edwards ran out of the house to try and find the man, but he'd already driven off. Both families immediately called police to file a report.

"I'm very proud of him," Diana Blakely said. "I can't stop talking about him. I'm still in a state of shock. Still by him being so young and he did that for a friend. That's amazing."

And while Marcy wasn't home Saturday, her mom expressed gratitude at what this little boy did for her daughter.

"We call him our little hero. We are blessed that he was there," Edwards said.

Police say the offender is a white or Hispanic male, 18-20 years old, has short black hair with light complexion. He was last seen driving a white convertible with red seats.