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Tooele teen recounts frightening encounter after attempted abduction

Posted at 9:38 PM, Dec 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-07 23:38:57-05

TOOELE- Something caught the eye of a Tooele High School sophomore as she began walking home Wednesday.

“I was just walking like I normally do,” said Veronica Constante, “When I noticed a truck following me.”

She said she the green truck continued following her for a number of blocks, then the driver suddenly drove up to her.

“He just pulled in front of me and asked if I needed a ride, and I told him no,” Constante said. “That’s when he opened his doors. I started running.”

At the same time, she reached for her phone to call 911.

“I was crying because I was so scared," the teen said.

Police arrived within three minutes, but while she waited for them to pull up, she said the man, who she describes as being in his 30s with shoulder-length blond hair, kept watching her.

“I just heard my daughter crying screaming, ‘mom, mom,’” said Crystal Diane, Veronica’s mom, about when her daughter called her. “I’m like, 'What’s going on? Calm down. Relax.' She was like, ‘Mom, some guy was trying to pick me up.’”

Police say they are looking into the case and for the suspect, and Tooele School District says they are working with police too. In the meantime, Diane has a message for all parents.

“It’s every parents fear," she said. "I want them to be able to talk to their kid because it can happen to anybody.”