Quick thinking deters attacker

MALTBY – A 15-year-old girl said she slashed a man with a pocketknife when he tried to pull her into a truck Friday evening.

The girl told police that she decided to walk home from a friend’s house after her father wasn’t on time to pick her up, Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Rich Niebusch said.

The teen was walking west on Maltby Road near 78th Avenue SE just before 8 p.m. when a red truck with a red canopy stopped.

A man got out of the truck and asked the girl if she needed a ride, Niebusch said.

The girl refused to go with the man. The suspect grabbed the teen’s arm, tearing her sweatshirt.

The girl pulled out a pocketknife and slashed the man in the right hip area, Niebusch said.

The teen told police she wasn’t sure if she’d hurt the man but he yelled an expletive and got back into the truck.

The girl was crying and running toward home when her brother found her.

Sheriff’s deputies were unable to locate the knife, which the girl often carries with her, Niebusch said. They took the girl’s sweatshirt as evidence.

Local hospitals were asked to call police if anyone with a knife wound arrived for treatment. No one turned up.

The suspect was described as a Hispanic man about 5 feet 6 inches tall, wearing a baseball cap. No other description was available.

Police do not believe the suspect is the same man wanted in connection with two attempted abductions near Mariner High School in October.

If anyone has information about the case, call the sheriff’s tip line at 425-388-3845.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.

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