Cops: 2 men tried to buy toddler at Calif. store

COVINA, Calif. -- Police say two men are wanted for offering a woman $100 for her 2-year-old son as they shopped at a Covina market, reports CBS Los Angeles.

According to the station, a 34-year-old woman told police she and her son were shopping Wednesday about 20 miles east of Los Angeles when a man made several complimentary statements about how beautiful she and her son were, Covina police spokesman Sgt. Gregg Peterson said.

The suspect then reportedly asked the woman if she wanted to sell her son, and when she said no, he continued with the compliment, but they were focused solely on her son, Peterson said.

When she finished checking out, the woman told police she waited inside the store for the man to leave the market. After several minutes, the woman says she walked with her son to her vehicle to find the man parked next to her with another man in the passenger's seat.

According to Peterson, the suspect, who was sitting in the driver's seat, said: "Oh look, it's you! It's both of you. You're so beautiful," according to CBS Los Angeles.

The woman told the man to leave them alone and he got out of his car and approached her, taking a $100 bill from his pocket and asked, "Can I buy your son?" according to police.

The man, still holding the $100 bill, said, "Go ahead and take it. Just take it," police said, and the passenger told the woman, "just take the money."

She said the men insisted she keep the $100 and dropped it in her shopping cart before driving away.

On Thursday evening, Covina Police released security video of the two suspects in an attempt to identify then, according to the station.

Peterson said the woman became so scared the man was going to try to kidnap her son, she could not scream or yell for help.

The first suspect was described as a Latino about 45 years old, 5-foot-8, 200 pounds, wearing blue jeans and a brown button-down shirt. His passenger was described as a black man in his 50s, about 6 feet tall, 215 pounds, wearing tan slacks and a long-sleeved shirt. Their vehicle was described as a champagne-colored Honda Pilot.

Covina Police told the station when the suspects are apprehended they face possible human trafficking charges.

Anyone with information about the identities of the two men is asked to contact the Covina Police Department Detective Bureau at (626) 384-5612 about case #15-120.