Bay City News Foundation
PETALUMA — Police in Petaluma have arrested a suspect in connection with trying to lure a child.
Lionel Gonzales, 42, was arrested on suspicion of child annoyance, according to the Petaluma Police Department.
On Thursday at 7 p.m., officers received a call from a resident reporting a suspicious person had tried to coax her child into leaving with him at McDowell Park.
The incident had occurred around 5:15 p.m.
The parent told police her young child had been playing at the park when a man approached the child and repeatedly tried to talk the child into riding his bicycle and leaving with him.
The parent ran over and yelled at the man and told him to stop talking to the child.
Police said the man continued to try to convince the child to leave with him until the parent was finally able to get the man to leave.
The man fled the area on a small red bicycle in an unknown direction.
On Friday around 9:40 p.m., officers located the suspect in the area of East Washington Street and South McDowell Boulevard after the parent of the victim saw the suspect and notified police.
The victim was able to positively identify Gonzales, who was riding a small red bicycle, as the suspect, and Gonzales was taken into custody without incident.
Source: www.mercurynews.com