Man lured girl into SUV, police say

Margate police have arrested a North Lauderdale man who investigators say picked up a young girl in his SUV while she was on her way to school and asked her if she wanted to go home with him.

Jose Angel Laurence, 58, is charged with luring and enticing a child under 12 and with battery, according to jail records.

The girl, 10, was walking along the 6600 block of Southgate Boulevard about 7 a.m. Thursday when Laurence drove up in a Grey Jeep Grand Cherokee and told her to get in so he could give her a ride to school, police said.

The child initially mistook the Jeep for one owned by an uncle, but according to the arrest report filed in the case, she got in the front passenger seat anyway because she was afraid Laurence had a weapon.

The driver started asking her personal questions and asked her if she wanted to go to his home, but she said she needed to get to school. After driving around for a while, Laurence eventually dropped her off near her elementary school, police said.

Before she got out of the SUV, Laurence kissed her on the cheek, gave her a hug and ran his hands up and down her arms, the arrest report stated. She was not harmed while in the vehicle, detectives said.

Following the incident, investigators circulated a description of the driver, and a picture of the Jeep.

Out with her mother days later, the girl recognized the Jeep as it drove through the neighborhood. Her mother wrote down the tag number and police were able to trace it to Laurence, investigators said.

When being questioned, Laurence admitted he asked the girl to get in his Jeep and took her to a nearby park, but he denied kissing her or asking her to come back to his home, the report stated.

During his first-appearance court hearing Tuesday, Broward Judge John “Jay” Hurley set Laurence’s bond at $150,000.

“The court is very concerned not only about the safety of this young girl but also the safety of all the young girls in the community who would happen to be waiting to go to school,” he said.

Hurley added conditions requiring Laurence to stay at least 500 feet away from the 10-year-old girl, stay off Southgate Boulevard, stay off school property in South Florida, possess no weapons and give no rides to girls under 18, if he’s released from jail.