South Bay : UNSUCCESSFUL KIDNAPPING

Hawthorne police are searching for a registered sex offender who is suspected of kidnapping a 14-year-old girl Wednesday by claiming to be a truant officer.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Jerome William Webb, 35, in the kidnapping of a Hawthorne High School student, who escaped without harm, and the attempted kidnappings of three other children the same day.

Police identified Webb as the suspect after a school crossing guard wrote down the assailant’s license plate number when she saw him approach three of the children. According to Hawthorne police, Webb was convicted of attempted rape in 1991.

“It just reaffirms the fact that parents have to be very careful of their children in watching how they go to and from school,” Hawthorne Police Lt. Arvid Krueger said.

As she walked near the intersection of Inglewood and Broadway at 8 a.m., the 14-year-old victim was approached by a man driving a tan Buick, Krueger said. After he showed her a badge and identified himself as a truant officer, she got into the car with him.

The suspect drove for more than half an hour, then stopped in an alley in Lakewood, the victim told police. When he tried to get in the back seat with the victim, she escaped and ran to a nearby home to call police.

The other children were approached about 7:30 a.m. on 120th Street near Eucalyptus School.

Anyone with information is asked to call Hawthorne police at (310) 970-7976 or their local police agency.