Police: 2 Lowell attempted abductions

LOWELL, Mich. (WOOD) - Authorities in Kent County are investigating two attempted abductions that occurred between 9:10 p.m. and 9:57 p.m. Sept. 6.

A 28-year-old female jogger told police a man got out of his vehicle on Finn Avenue in Lowell Township and started following her. She ran away to a nearby house to get help.

Then a 21-year-old woman and a 14-year-old girl were walking along Barnsley Road in Vergennes Township when they noticed that something wasn't quite right. A man had stopped his pickup truck not far from them.

"I saw him pass us a few times. I didn't think anything of it," said one of the young women. "He kind of stopped his car in the middle of the road, turned his lights off and got out of the car, and my sister and I kind of stopped. It was scary. I was just like, 'What the heck do we do?'"

At the right moment, alert neighbors -- a few male teens -- took notice that the women were in trouble. The young men walked toward the young women and shouted at the driver.

Then, the young women said, the man got back in his truck and drove away.

"We just felt like we had to do something to help out," said Brock Creighton, one of the teens who stepped in. "I would hope someone would do the same for me. If my little sister was getting followed or something, I'd hope someone would stop and notice and help her out."

The young women said they're grateful their neighbors stepped in.

"I can just imagine of what would have happened if those guys wouldn't have been outside," said one of the women.

The suspect was driving a white extended-cab pickup truck that may have been a late 1990s General Motors model. It had a ladder rack in the bed and plow lights on the front.

Police are also advising awareness.

"They always say don't walk alone," said one of the young women. "We weren't alone. We were together and it still happened."