Tokay teen escapes abduction attempt on walk to school

A Lodi student narrowly escaped an attempted abduction while walking to school Wednesday morning.

According to an email sent to parents from Tokay High School Principal Erik Sandstrom, a female student was walking to school Wednesday morning when an adult male approached her and grabbed her in the area of Brandywine Drive and Scarborough Drive.

“The student was able to fight back and get away,” Sandstrom wrote in the email. “Lodi police were notified and have been in the vicinity throughout the day. We ask everyone to be alert and aware as they come to or from school and to report anything they see that is suspicious or may cause concern.”

Chelsea Vongehr, a Lodi Unified School District spokesperson, issued a statement confirming that the student was unharmed.

Lodi Police Lt. Eric Versteeg said the attempted abduction took place at approximately 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The suspect was described as an Indian male in his 40s or 50s, approximately 5 feet 10 inches or 5 feet 11 inches tall with a medium build and had a dark mustache.

“He was wearing a dark green hoodie with the hood up and yellow lettering on the front,” Versteeg said. “If anyone has any information, I would encourage them to give us a call.”

Anyone with information about the attempted abduction should call the Lodi Police Department at 209-3336727.

Nuha Miqbel, mother of a Tokay High student, said her heart dropped when she heard about the attempted abduction.

“She was able to fight him off, but what if this happened to an elementary school kid?” Miqbel said.

Although she was grateful that her youngest daughter — a senior at Tokay — was sitting next to her on Wednesday morning when she got the call about the incident, Miqbel also expressed sympathy for the girl who was almost abducted.

“This girl is going to be scarred from this,” Miqbel said. “I’m glad she’s safe and nothing happened to her, and God forbid it happens to another kid in this town.”

Samra Jameel, another Tokay parent who also works as a paraeducator at the school, said incidents such as this are why she has never allowed her children to walk to school even when they were younger and she had to drive them to three different schools before work.

“Anyone could pull over and try to force kids into a car,” Jameel said. “I don’t like the idea of kids walking to school nowadays.”