March 17--Police patrols around city schools will be increased after what police term an abduction near Hazleton Elementary/Middle School on Thursday afternoon.
Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea said police responded to a report of an assault near 13th Street and Garibaldi Court at about 4 p.m.
When they arrived, police were met by a 13-year-old female who said she was forced into a vehicle by one or more people as she stood on the corner of Ninth Street and Manhattan Court -- in front of the school known as the Castle -- after dismissal.
The vehicle subsequently stopped in the area of Altmiller Playground at 13th Street and Garibaldi Court, at which point the girl fled from the vehicle.
However, the people who abducted her were able to grab her again, and she was kicked and punched.
She was subsequently transported to Hazleton General Hospital, but later Friday afternoon she had been released, according to DeAndrea.
"You can tell she was hit pretty severely in the face, head and neck," said DeAndrea, speaking with the news media in front of the school. "She's very black and blue and swollen. She's having a hard time talking right now."
DeAndrea said as city police continue their investigation, they are "treating it as an abduction," though it "appears to be an isolated incident."
DeAndrea said he has no motive for the crime yet.
"It doesn't have any signs of a true abduction," DeAndrea said. "When I'm abducting a kid from a school, I grab that kid and I'm gone. I don't drive around for 10 to 15 minutes and end up a block away from the school at a playground with 20 other kids. She hears youthful voices in the vehicle. I'm not downplaying the incident, but it just doesn't fit."
DeAndrea said the girl was waiting for a ride to her Broad Street home when she was abducted.
"The vehicle pulls up, they grab her and throw her in the vehicle," DeAndrea said. "They drive around about 10 minutes, She recognized she's at Altmiller Playground. She gets out of the car. They're able to jump out, chase her, pull her down by the hair and they proceeded to beat her."
DeAndrea said he doesn't know if the abductors had thrown something like a hood or pillowcase over the girl's head.
"Somehow, they were concealing her eyes," he said.
Until the end of the school term in June, all schools in the city -- plus Hazleton Area High School, which is in Hazle Township -- will see increased police patrols, DeAndrea said.
"From this day until the end of school, I have dedicated two city police officers to roam between the high school, the Castle, and Heights-Terrace (Elementary/Middle School)," the chief said. "If the normal shift cars are not on an incident, I will have six to eight cars all concentrated on the schools."
On top of the increased uniform presence, DeAndrea said undercover officers will be on duty, because the city is getting help with the investigation from a number of sources -- the Hazleton Area School District, Pennsylvania State Police, the Luzerne County District Attorney's Office, the state Attorney General's Office, the FBI, and the Mid-Atlantic Great Lakes Law Enforcement Assistance Network.
"In addition to the cameras we have on the schools, we will set up more cameras," DeAndrea said. "A county detective has been assigned here. I want the marked cars and the undercover people. If somebody needs help, they know to run to the police car."
DeAndrea said the community can help.
"We believe there is much more here than a random abduction," DeAndrea said. "Anyone with more information can contact state police or city police. Residents of the city can keep their eyes open for any suspicious behavior. I don't want the community in a panic. Investigators are continuing to work to try to uncover every stone."
DeAndrea cautions anyone recording such an altercation on video is subject to arrest.
"Anyone who records something like this on a phone is just as much at fault for not helping," he said.
Copyright 2012 - Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.
