Man tries to coax child to leave Petaluma park with him, police say

PETALUMA, Calif. - Police in Petaluma received a call from a resident Thursday night who told them a suspicious man tried to coax her young son into leaving with him earlier at the city's McDowell Park.

The woman said her young child had been playing at the park when the man approached her son and repeatedly attempted to talk him into riding his bicycle and leave with him.

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The boy's parents ran over to their son and yelled at the unknown man to leave and to stop talking to their child. The man continued to try and convince the child to leave with him, but after the one of the parents continued to try and get the subject to leave, he left the area on his bicycle in an unknown direction.

The man was described as Hispanic, in his late 40s, with a thin build. He was also bald. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt, blue shorts and was riding a small red bicycle. No one on scene was familiar with the man.