Tumalo teen says insistent stranger offered ride

A 14-year-old Tumalo girl walking home from the school bus Wednesday afternoon said a persistent stranger repeatedly tried to give her a ride several times and became angry when she said no, eventually driving off, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies were dispatched around 2:20 p.m. to the report of a suspicious man in the area of Tumalo Road and 97 th Street, said Sgt. William Bailey.

The teen told deputies she got off the bus at the intersection and a man she did not know asked if she wanted a ride. She said he persisted, asking several more times, and she declined each request, Bailey said.

At that point, she said, the man became angry and quickly drove off eastbound on Tumalo Road. Bailey said the girl told them she did not know the man, nor had she seen him in the neighborhood previously.

The teen described the man as being a white male about 60 years old, with a full white beard, and was wearing a blue hooded shirt. She said he was driving a teal four-door car.

Deputies conducted a thorough check of the area but could not find the man or his car, Bailey said.

The sheriff’s office asked anyone who might have seen the car or man in the area at around that time to call dispatchers at 541-693-6911 and speak to a deputy about what they observed.