Oregon police investigate attempted abduction

Oregon resident Scott Schultz, left, tells his neighbor Tom Lambrecht about the attempted abduction of his son, Tyler, 2, on tractor, in front of their Eastmoreland Drive home.

THE BLADE/LORI KING
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Oregon resident Scott Schultz, left, tells his neighbor Tom Lambrecht about the attempted abduction of his son, Tyler, 2, on tractor, in front of their Eastmoreland Drive home.

A woman, a complete stranger, was holding Scott Schultz’s 2-year-old son in her arms. She plucked the boy off of his motorized toy car at the end of his Eastmoreland Drive driveway and tried to put him in her car.

Mr. Schultz, who was only about 30 feet away, ran for his son, Tyler, and was able to take him from the woman. A man, who was driving the car, got out and pointed a gun at the father. Then the couple fled in the blue Dodge Intrepid.

It was late, but the street lights weren’t even on when the couple tried to take off with Mr. Schultz’s son about 9:30 p.m. Friday.

Oregon police continue to look for the suspects — described to them by Mr. Schultz as a man in his 30s weighing about 270 to 280 pounds. and a thin woman in her 40s with dark brown hair.

Mr. Schultz saw the car pull up to the curb and the woman get out. The man driving yelled “Grab him, grab him, grab him.”

“It happened so fast,” Mr. Schultz said Tuesday. “I was only thinking of my son. He was my only focus.”

He called his fiance, Terra Ettl, at work and tried to tell her what happened.

“All I heard was ‘Tyler’ and ‘kidnapped’, ” she said. “I don’t even remember the drive home.”

She thought her son was gone.

When she pulled into the driveway and saw Tyler sitting with Mr. Schultz, “it was a huge relief,” she said.

Mr. Schultz said he was sitting on his porch crying. Tyler rubbed his father’s head and asked “You OK? You OK?”

“That only made me cry more,” Mr. Schultz said.

Scott Schultz holds his son, Tyler, whom he saved from being abducted Friday evening.

That same blue Intrepid was driving slowly through the Oregon neighborhood about 6 p.m. the same day, Mr. Schultz said. He thought they couple was lost or looking for an address and didn’t think anything of it.

Now, he says, the couple was canvassing, looking for a target.

After the couple drove off, Mr. Schultz went across the street to Becky Carlen’s home. He said the same car drove slowly past her house while her two young daughters and a neighborhood boy were playing in the front yard.

“I won’t let them play in the front yard anymore,” said Mrs. Carlen, who has lived in the same house for 14 years.

She jumped into action. She printed fliers with information about the attempted abduction and went door-to-door talking to neighbors about what happened.

People need to know, she said.

Mr. Schultz and Ms. Ettl moved into their home in February — it’s a nice neighborhood on a relatively quiet street. They never expected anything like this.

“You never think it can happen to you. You never think it can happen in your neighborhood, you never think it can happen to your kid,” Mr. Schultz said. “It could have played out a lot worse.”

Oregon police Sgt. Tim Zale said he wasn’t aware of any other incidents that could be related and, although they have seen instances in which people try to lure children into their cars, it’s never been “something quite this aggressive. It’s kind of scary.”

It doesn’t matter where you live, Sergeant Zale said.

“It’s just getting that way anymore,” he said. “I’m not surprised about anything anyone tries to do. People are acting too desperate anymore.”

Although police have told the family it’s unlikely that the couple would come back to the neighborhood, Mr. Schultz said he’s ready if he sees them again.

He said the man was wearing a white tank top and a black “rave cap.” The woman, he said, was wearing a black shirt with pink and purple hearts on it.

“I will never forget those faces,” he said. “If I see them, I will know who they are.”

Contact Taylor Dungjen at:

tdungjen@theblade.com

or 419-724-6054.