A 69-year-old Winters man faces kidnapping charges after allegedly grabbing at a female student as she walked to school Wednesday morning.
Winters Police Chief John Miller said the girl, a Winters Middle School student, reported the incident to school staff at about 7:45 a.m., prompting officers to respond to the campus at 425 Anderson Ave.
According to Miller, the girl told police the man had grabbed at her backpack as she walked to school. Two other students in the office confirmed seeing the man in the same area about five minutes after the alleged incident and said that he walked toward them, but did not engage with them.
“These juveniles said Long was standing in the street acting strangely by waving his arms and talking to himself, so they ran past him to the school office and reported his behavior to school staff as well,” Miller said in a news release.
Police spotted a man matching the suspect’s description near the scene and detained him. Identified as Steven Thomas Long, the man denied the alleged conduct, but the girl identified him as the man who grabbed her, Miller said.
In addition to kidnapping, Long was arrested for violating his probation in a prior drug-related case, Miller said. He was expected to be booked into the Yolo County Jail.
The incident also was reported to the Winters Unified School District administration, which sent an alert to parents notifying them of the arrest and urging them to discuss with their children the importance of being aware of their surroundings and reporting suspicious activity to adults, Miller said.