Man, 69, Accused Of Grabbing Winters Girl As She Was Walking To School
WINTERS (CBS13) - Police have arrested a man accused of grabbing a girl as she was walking to school in Winters.
The incident happened Wednesday morning along Anderson Drive, near Winters Middle School. Winters police say a girl reported a little after 7:30 a.m. that she was walking to school when a man grabbed her backpack.
She was able to run away and immediately reported the incident to school staff.
Officers found the suspect - 69-year-old Winters resident Steven Thomas Long - in the area and detained him. He denied grabbing or talking to the girl, but the girl positively identified him as the suspect.
Police say a couple of other students had also reported seeing Long just before the alleged grabbing incident. The students say he walked towards them and was acting strange, waving his arms and apparently talking to himself. The students also ran to the school office to report seeing him.
Long, who is on probation for drug charges, was arrested. He's facing charges of kidnapping, due to girl's statement that he grabbed her backpack and moved her several feet against her will, and a probation violation.
A letter has been sent to parents in the Winters Unified School District alerting them of Wednesday's incident.