A man has been arrested on suspicion of trying to abduct two teen girls earlier this week as they walked in a neighborhood on Tucson's south side, police said.
The girls told police they were walking in the Midvale Park neighborhood â west of Interstate 19 near West Valencia Road â about 3:15 Thursday afternoon when a man tried to drag them away. They fought him off and ran away, Tucson police said in a news release.
The girls told an adult nearby, who was able to photograph the man before he fled into the nearby desert, the release said. Neither girl was injured.
Jesse H. Howlett
On Friday a passerby told police searching the area that a man who matched a photo of the alleged attacker the department had shared on social media was in a desert area.
Jesse H. Howlett, 30, was apprehended after a short chase, the release said.
Howlett was questioned, arrested and booked into the Pima County jail on suspicion of two counts of attempted kidnapping, two counts of aggravated assault on a minor and one count of sexual abuse, the release said.
