A man wanted for an attempted child abduction in Canton may have visited a daycare facility in Oxford last week and inquired about a job.
‘If this guy is in our area, we want people to know,? said a woman who helps out at the daycare facility on N. Baldwin Road, between Shipman and Oakwood roads, where the incident occurred Aug. 22.
The police sketch of a man wanted in Canton for an attempted child abduction at a garage sale back in June was recognized by the daycare’s director as the same man who came looking for work there.
‘The face is identical. The hair is identical,? said the daycare facility’s director, noting she’s ?100 percent? sure it’s him.
The only difference was she said he’s ‘really dark-skinned,? more so than the police sketch. ‘But you can’t really tell on paper,? she said.
A description from the Canton Police stated the man is Hispanic or Mexican, between the ages of 40 and 50, 5-feet 4 or 5 inches tall, 220-230 pounds, dark skined with black hair.
The director identified the man after one of the daycare helpers saw a sketch of him on the television news Thursday and printed out a copy for her to look at.
Apparently, the man in the sketch was also involved in a suspicious incident in Canton on Aug. 12 in which he was talking to some young girls on the street from his car. There was another incident on Aug. 15 in which a man fitting the description was spotted watching kids on the playground of an elementary school in Canton.
‘If there’s a chance it’s the same guy, I want to get the word out,? said the daycare helper.
The daycare director filed a suspicious person report with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Friday, which was forwarded to the Canton Police Department.
According to the ladies, the man was driving a white, full-size, older model, four-door car.
The car was first seen at the daycare facility on Monday, Aug. 21 when it drove into the parking lot, circled around and drove out. It was noticed because the workers and kids were out on the playground at the time.
The next day the same car came back, the man got out and talked to the director. He told her he needed money for gas to take his sick son to the hospital and said he was willing to do some cleaning work.
‘He wanted to do it right now,? the director said. ‘He said, ‘Please, please, I need help.??
She told him they already had a cleaning lady and turned him away. He never got inside the building nor did he have any contact with any of the children.
The daycare director noted the man barely spoke English and had a thick accent, possibly Spanish. She could only pick ‘out a word here and there.?
‘Otherwise, I couldn’t understand him,? she said.
Canton Police Det. Mike Wells said, ‘At this point, it’s really hard to tell? whether the man his department is looking for is the same one who visited the daycare in Oxford Township.
He said in all three incidents the ‘vehicles kind of match,? but no one is ‘exactly sure? what the make and model is. A mid-size, older model, four-door, white sedan seems to be the common description.
‘It could be a Taurus or a Tempo, something along that size,? Wells said.
The first incident in Canton occurred in early June when the suspect reportedly attempted to walk off with the 5-year-old son of a woman running a garage sale.
The mother reportedly stopped the man at which point he told her the little boy was cute and he would be back for him.
When he returned five minutes later, the woman grabbed her son and the man took off in his white car.
Another incident occurred in Canton on Aug. 12 in which it’s believed this same man pulled up in his white car next to two girls, ages 5 and 6, and began asking them if they had seen his lost dog.
When a mother approached the car and told him it was not appropriate for him to be talking to the girls, he drove away, according to Wells.
No mention was made of the suspect having any type of an accent in either of the Canton incidents, Wells noted.
Wells said himself and another detective are working on the case.
Anyone with information regarding the man in the sketch or the above incidents is asked to immediately call the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department at (248) 858-4950 or Canton Police Department at (734) 394-5400.