Bellevue woman escapes kidnapping attempt at Crossroads Mall

The woman described her attacker as a Hispanic male in his late 30s to early 40s, about 5’8″ tall with a medium build. He had a short buzz-cut and scruffy facial hair. The suspect wore blue jeans and a white t-shirt. (Police sketch provided by the Bellevue Police Department)

A young woman narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt Saturday afternoon at a corner near Crossroads mall in Bellevue.

The 18-year-old woman was walking on the southeast corner of the mall at the 15600 block of NE 8th Street at 2 p.m. July 28 when an unknown man drove up to her and told her to get in his car.

When she refused and backed away, the suspect got out of his car and tried to grab her, pick her up, and force her to go with him. As the woman struggled away, her assailant noticed people nearby watching them. He then got back into his car and drove away.

“Really unusual – you know, two o’clock in a very busy area on a Saturday early afternoon, so who knows what his motivation was on that,” said Officer Iafrate of the Bellevue Police Department.

According to the woman’s statement to Bellevue police officers, the suspect appeared to be a Hispanic man in his late 30s or early 40s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall with a medium build, buzz-cut, and scruffy facial hair.

The suspect’s car was described as an “older model” dark green Chevrolet Geo four-door hatchback with a Washington license plate and a large dent on the left side of the rear bumper.

The woman said she did not know the man who attacked her.

Reports say the suspect drove what looked like a dark green “older model” Geo four-door hatchback with a large dent on the left side of the rear bumper and a Washington license plate. The car may look similar to the Geo shown in this photo. (Photo courtesy of the Bellevue Police Department

This attempt comes only a day after a Burien woman escaped a similar kidnapping attempt. The suspect in that case was apprehended at the scene thanks to a bystander that called 911.

“It is unusual that this has happened so close to whatever happened in Burien, and then of course Redmond had an incident two weeks ago I guess: not an attempted kidnapping, but a sexual assault,” said Officer Iafrate.

Bellevue police are currently looking for witnesses to this crime.

“If anybody recognizes that person in the sketch, or maybe could identify that vehicle, or maybe happened to be in the area and saw the commotion we’re really interested in getting them to call us,” said Officer Iafrate. “Just call 911. It would help solve this.”

Frank Shiers and Jillian Raftery contributed to this report.