Police: Man tried to lure girl into van in Jefferson Park

Police issued a community alert after a man tried to lure a 13-year-old girl into a van in the Jefferson Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side Wednesday evening.

The girl was riding her bike about 5:40 p.m. in the 5200 block of North Northwest Highway when she noticed a man standing outside a parked white van, according to police.

The man looked at her, smiled and said “Come here” in “an authoritarian tone of voice,” police said. The girl told an off-duty officer who called 911.

The man was described as white, between 40 and 50 years old, police said. He has a medium brown complexion and stands either 5-foot-5 or 5-foot-6 and weighs 140 pounds.

He wore a green baseball cap, brown sweater and black pants, police said. The van was described as a dirty, white “worktype” model.

Anyone with information on the man is asked to call police at (312) 744-8200.