A suspect was arrested in Toms River in the wee hours of Friday morning following a police chase resulting from the attempted abduction of a Jewish teenager several hours prior, Lakewood Alerts reported.

The harrowing incident began at around 7:30 PM Thursday evening, when Lakewood Police and Shomrim were called to Forest Park Circle off Pine Street in Lakewood for reports of an attempted kidnapping.

The caller and witnesses reported that a black or Hispanic man had approached a teenage Jewish girl and attempted to force her into a white SUV. The victim managed to escape, forcing the suspect to flee.

Shortly thereafter, a second similar incident was reported in an unspecified nearby town, Lakewood Police said.

At around 1 AM, a Jewish woman sitting in her vehicle in the Walden Woods neighborhood of Toms River was approached by the suspect. The woman honked her horn to scare the man off and alerted her husband and police. A chase ensued, resulting in the suspect crashing his vehicle at the intersection of Route 70 and Whitseville Road.

The suspect was swiftly taken into custody. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office is expected to provide additional information later Friday.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)