LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas – Authorities say a man may be linked to the attempting kidnapping of a boy, woman and sexual assault of another woman in Liberty County.
According to deputies, Tuesday, the 7-year-old boy was playing near the 300 block of CR 4882 near the city of Dayton, Texas. A man driving a red pickup truck pulled up near him and grabbed his shoulder, attempting to pull him into the truck. The boy managed to pull away and run into a neighbor's house for help and the man fled the area. The boy's mother and neighbor saw what took place.
"He punched me on the arm and he tried to get me into the car," said Luke Gordon, the boy who said he was nearly kidnapped.
His mother, Heather Gordon, told KPRC 2 the man who tried to kidnap her son was driving a red pickup truck and told her son he would take the boy for a ride.
Gordon said Luke refused, pulled away from the man, and ran into a neighbor's house for help.
"He was scared. He was crying and everything. We got him home, he wouldn't even go outside to play football," said Gordon.
Investigators said the man driving the red pickup truck may be connected to the recent rape of a 30-year-old woman that happened the same week on FM 1413 just west of Dayton.
Authorities are also investigating if the same man is linked to an attempted kidnapping of a 20-year-old woman Tuesday in Liberty. The woman was jogging when a man driving a red pickup truck drove up beside her and asked for her name and number. He then asked her to get in his truck and offered her a ride home. When she tried to avoid him, he pulled the truck across the street, blocking her, and she managed to run away and call police.
The woman told investigators the same man in the same truck drove up to her while she was jogging over a week, before the sexual assault of the other woman on FM 1413 and tried to take to her at that time and she managed to avoid him. The woman thought this was the same man that approached her after reading about the rape of the woman that took place on FM 1413.
The second time the woman was approached she paid close attention to the driver and the truck. Her description of the man and vehicle were very similar to the man in the sexual assault on FM 1413. She even identified a black Christmas tree air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror in the vehicle.
Investigators are checking security camera footage from two locations to obtain better descriptions of the man and the red pickup.
Liberty County sheriff's advise the public to stay aware of their surroundings and to report any suspicious activity to call the authorities. They are offering a cash reward that leads to the arrest of the man.
If you have any information on these cases, please contact call the Sheriff's Office at 936-336-4500 or call Crime Stoppers at 800-392-7867.