Teenage girls beat kidnap attempts

Two teenage girls were victims of kidnap attempts in the space of two hours yesterday as they made their way to school.

They are students at Western Springs College in Auckland.

In the first incident, a man threatened to shoot a 17-year-old girl if she did not get into his car.

The girl was on her way to school about 8.30am when she was approached by a man on the busy stretch of Meola Rd between Pt Chevalier and Westmere.

Police said last night that he had a towel wrapped around his hand, implying he had a weapon.

But his attempt failed when the girl scared him off by screaming and running to school, where she told teachers who called police.

Two hours later, a man attempted to kidnap a 14-year-old girl from the same school.

The girl was running late when a man forced her into his car on Motions Rd, near a service entrance to Auckland Zoo across the road from Jagger's Bush. The road runs parallel to Meola Rd.

She managed to escape from the car when it stopped at the corner of Old Mill and Garnet Roads.

From there she ran to her nearby home and her mother called police.

Officers interviewed the 14-year-old yesterday, and will speak to the 17-year-old today.

Detective Sergeant Uraia Vakaruru, of the Auckland City District Crime Squad, said it was difficult to tell if the incidents were related.

"We could be looking at one person or just two unrelated incidents ... but we haven't had anything similar recently, then suddenly we have something similar within two hours," he said.

From next week, the school plans to station staff members around its perimeter to guard against further incidents.

Western Springs College deputy principal Linda Dillon said the 17-year-old had shown remarkable presence of mind.

"I understand the man said if she didn't get into the car, he would shoot her.

"To make that judgment on whether to run or not in a split second is remarkable. She was very brave, and very distressed."

Ms Dillon understood some powerline workers had seen the 14-year-old struggling in the car and called the police before she escaped.

The school had checked on the rest of the students and spoken to the parents of the two girls. All teachers had told their classes about the approaches and asked students not to go out of school grounds alone. Guidance counsellors were nearby for any students who were upset by the news.

"It's a fine balance between making sure people are safe without inflaming the situation by causing too much alarm."

On Monday, extra staff would be stationed around the school's perimeter before and after school, Ms Dillon said.

"We'll do what we can, but the older girl was approached on Meola Rd, which is some distance from the school, and it is hard to be everywhere. But I think the students will be careful."

Western Springs principal Ken Havill said: "We are concerned he is still at large. He is an extremely dangerous person to have acted so brazenly in the open."

* Police want witnesses to contact the District Crime Squad at (09) 302-6789.