NEW BRITAIN, CT (WFSB) -
Members of the New Britain Police Department have released video of an attempted abduction that was reported last week.
The video supports the would-be 12-year-old victim's allegation that a man in a gray minivan attempted to abduct her.
A press conference was held Thursday morning by New Britain Mayor Tim O'Brien Jr., and New Britain Police Chief James Wardwell.
Police in New Britain have stepped up patrols after an attempted kidnapping was reported on Friday morning.
Around 8 a.m., on July 13, a 12-year-old girl said she was walking to a bus stop for the Metacomet Ridge Interdistrict Academy Summer Program in the area of Park Drive and Uncas Road when an older man driving a minivan approached her.
The victim said she ignored the man and he drove off. However, police said, he made a U-turn and went back towards her direction.
The man then got out of the minivan telling her he had a movie for her, and the girl ran away and called police.
Camp counselors said she did the right thing.
"If something like that happened again to one of us, that we should do the same thing that she did and never stop and talk," said Tahjae Barrett.
A security camera on a nearby home caught a glimpse of the vehicle and of the young girl running away from it.
That was the video that police released on Thursday.
The vehicle is described as a gray minivan that was very dirty around the bottom. The victim also stated that the driver had to reach outside the door to use the exterior handle to exit the vehicle.
If anyone has information about the attempted abduction, call police immediately.
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