Corozal Police Seek Suspected Child Predator

In a separate incident in the north, which may have some bearing to the incident in Orange Walk, Corozal police are looking for a man who tried to lure a young girl into a white Prado.  The child was heading home from a shop when the man offered her money, but she became scared and ran off. Corozal Police say that although they cannot ascertain if the vehicle and driver are still in Corozal, there were sightings of the vehicle last Wednesday in the Pachakan and Chan Chen neighborhood.  Superintendent Andrew Ramirez, Officer in Charge of the Corozal Police Formation, spoke to us by phone today. He said that they don’t wish to alarm the community, but to rather keep them informed.

Andrew Ramirez

Via Phone: Supt. Andrew Ramirez, O.C., Corozal Police Formation

“There was a child on Wednesday night or Thursday night, I believe, was en-route to her home around 8:30 on the San Andres Road in Corozal, when a white vehicle that looked like a Prado; the man, speaking like an American, then showed the young girl money in paper form and caused the young girl to become very frightened and she ran off. We do not have any information of the license plate of this vehicle. What we did as a prevention to inform the community, is to be on the lookout for a white Prado-type vehicle with no hub cap and a wheel to the back, driven by a white male with bumps to his face. What we also gathered, because we got a short clipping of a video camera, that this person apparently drives in an area that is poorly lit and targeting children and those areas that are less privileged.”

Andrea Polanco

“Superintendent, can you tell me if this child was able to say if the vehicle was following her or was it just there, maybe, lying in wait?”

Via Phone: Supt. Andrew Ramirez

“No, what happened is that the child was making a left turn when the vehicle approached from behind and they made almost the same left turn, stop and that was when there was some sort of communication was done which caused the child to run off. So, it wasn’t a matter that the vehicle was trailing that individual because I saw the recording and it didn’t indicate if the girl was being followed.”

Andrea Polanco

“So from the video, you are still not able to determine the license plate or anything?”

Via Phone: Supt. Andrew Ramirez

“No. No. But we can say that the vehicle was not tint and it was an older version of the Prado.”

Corozal Police have since increased patrols and are asking for the residents to keep vigilant.