Authorities are no longer seeking a man who allegedly tried to abduct a 9-year-old boy Tuesday afternoon.
The 60-year-old Tongan, who has a strong accent and – with no bottom teeth – is hard to understand, has been doing landscape work in Mission Viejo since 1983. He was driving on Via Alcala looking for work in the neighborhood Tuesday afternoon when he saw a 9-year-old boy in front of his home. He asked the boy if his parents needed that type of work. A neighbor across the street said she heard the man tell the boy to get into his truck, but the boy said he could not understand what the man said. The man also asked the boy’s mother if she needed a landscaper.
After investigating the matter, Orange County Sheriff investigators said the incident was a misunderstanding and that the man, who has no criminal history, was not trying to abduct the child.
I’m glad the little boy is safe, but this is a perfect example of discrimination in this community. If you are not caucasian you must be guilty until proven innocent. I encounter this quiet often here in MV I’m sad to say.
Discrimination is through out all Orange County communities not just MV. I’d rather authorities look into a matter and discover it was a misunderstanding then ignore the situaltion to discover otherwise.
awww come on…has nothing to do with discrimination…just a concerned neighborhood watch looking out for a kid…a misunderstanding…nothing more…why does everything have to be a race/discrimination issue?
So Tara, Dottie, do you think that the police should investigate the neighbor across the street who said that the man asked the boy to get into his truck?
It is one thing to be vigilant, it is another to be specific in the accusation. The accusation was not that the man was talking to the boy, but that he was asking the boy to get into the truck. You have the boy’s testimony that he could not understand what the man said. But that neighbor, across the street, is specific.
I can imagine that a Spanish accent could be difficult for little kids to understand, but does it not reek of something disgusting when a person is mistaking “Do your parents need lawn service?” to “Do you want to get into the truck?”