Police investigating possible child luring incident in West Seattle

SEATTLE -- Seattle police said Wednesday that detectives are investigating a possible child luring incident Monday in West Seattle.

Police said a 12-year-old boy was walking to school around 9 a.m. when a black Ford pickup truck pulled alongside him in the 1600 block of 23rd Avenue SW. The driver in the truck then spoke to the boy, who kept walking. The truck then sped away.

Police said the boy’s father was driving nearby and witnessed the brief encounter. After seeing the truck drive off, the father picked up his son, who reported the man has asked him to help with an errand, police said.

The boy’s father then drove through the neighborhood and caught up to the truck, and jotted down the license plate number. The father then dropped his child off at school and contacted police about the incident.

Officers went to the home where the they believed the truck’s driver was living, but residents at the house said he had not been there in more than a month.

Detectives in SPD’s Sexual Assault Unit are investigating and have identified a level-one sex offender — who is connected with the truck — as a person of interest in the case, police said.