Spicer Conant
ESCONDIDO–Investigators arrested a San Marcos man accused of attempted kidnapping of several juveniles and one adult female in Escondido.
On May 9, 2016, at about 1 p.m., a 15-year old female was walking in the area of Washington Avenue and Fig Street. She was approached by a 40 to 50-year-old white male in a red convertible, who asked her for directions. When she refused, he offered her money to get in the car but she again refused and walked away. On the same day at about 1:45 p.m., a 16-year-old female was approached in the same manner, asking for directions. She was offered $10 to get in the car, and she did. The male drove the minor around for several minutes before dropping her off. A witness observed this incident and took photos of the vehicle with the minor seated inside. Both of these incidents were reported to police.
On Wednesday, March 15, in the morning an 11 year old female was walking to Mission Middle School when she was approached by an older white male in a red car asking her for directions. She ignored the male and continued on to school. Police were later notified of the incident. On Monday, March 20, at about 8:15 a.m., a 27-year-old female was walking in the area of Broadway and El Norte Parkway when she was approached by the same male in the same car, now described as a red Mazda Miata. He asked her for directions, which she gave him, but he then asked her to get in his car. She refused several times, but he persisted. The victim then took out her cell phone to take his photo and he sped away. Police also were notified of this incident.
Detectives in the Family Protection Unit reopened the case from 2016 and began a new investigation. On Tuesday morning, March 21, at about 6:30 a.m., detectives began a surveillance of Conant. They followed him into Escondido where over the space of about 90 minutes attempted to get 5 different females into his car, all in the general area of Mission Avenue and Broadway. Their ages were 14, 15, 16, 16, and 18. The last female, the 18-year-old, got into the car. Officers immediately feared for her safety and made an enforcement stop on the car, taking Conant into custody without further incident in the area of 13th Avenue and Escondido Blvd. A search of his vehicle revealed an illegal assault rifle.
Anyone with information, or who may have been a victim of Conant is asked to call Detective Jackson at (760) 839-4932, or leave an anonymous tip at 760-743-TIPS (8477).
The investigation is on-going,
