A 50-year-old felon accused of preying on two Moreno Valley schoolgirls and trying to kidnap one of them was charged Friday with attempted abduction and annoying minors.
Rene Rodriguez Ramirez of Indio was arrested Wednesday following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.
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Ramirez, who was being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail, was slated to make his initial court appearance Friday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to sheriff's Sgt. Robert Martinez, the two victims, identified in court documents only as "K.S." and "M.S.," were walking to school in the area of Cactus Avenue and Perris Boulevard about 9:20 a.m. Wednesday when Ramirez allegedly "pulled alongside them" in his car.
Martinez alleged the defendant "attempted to pull one of the juveniles into his vehicle ... (but) she was able to break free from his grasp."
Documents identified M.S. as the target of the alleged kidnapping attempt.
The girls, who were not injured, ran to their campus and notified officials what had transpired, prompting administrators to contact sheriff's deputies, the sergeant said.
He said that, thanks to the detailed description of the vehicle provided by the students, patrol deputies spotted it roughly an hour later near the intersection of Ormista and Season drives in Moreno Valley.
The driver, Ramirez, was detained without incident and ultimately booked into custody based on the witnesses' statements, according to Martinez.
Court records show the defendant has prior felony convictions for robbery, burglary and possession of controlled substances.
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