ST. MARTINVILLE, La (KLFY) — St. Martinville police are searching for a suspect who attempted to abduct two young girls Thursday.

Officials say a man driving a white van attempted to lure the girls, both under 16 years old, into his van while they were walking down Lewis Street.

“The white van pulled up on the side of them and kind of followed them to the library, which was probably about 100 yards away,” St. Martinville Police Chief Ricky Martin said. “When they got to the stop sign, the guy told them, ‘Hey, come see by the van,’ and they took off running.”

The girls say a Black man driving the van was the only person inside the vehicle. They say he attempted to get them inside.

Chief Martin says when school lets out, the police department gets an increase in these types of calls.

“Most of them are nothing real, but of course we treat them all like they are,” he said.

He’s asking for the public’s help to find this van and the driver.

“I know we have more than one white van in St. Martinville, but it doesn’t hurt to call and let us investigate the van rather than just assume it’s not the right van. Because you never know,” the chief added.

Police are reviewing surveillance video from the library and surrounding residents’ homes that captured the incident to try to find which way the van went and where their suspect is now.

“The days and times we’re living in right now, there’s people that don’t have regard for anyone else. That’s just the fact of the matter. You have predators no matter where you live,” Chief Martin said.