Teens' Attempt at Sting Operation Misfires Dangerously

Police in San Diego have a message for amateur crime fighters: Leave the undercover stuff to us. That's the upshot of an unusual case in which three teens tried to catch a man they say was trying to have sex with underage girls, reports the Los Angeles Times. At an arranged meeting at a shopping plaza, police say the man drove off with one of the teens—a 17-year-old girl—in his car. Police say she managed to text her two friends, ages 17 and 18, and they called police. Deputies with the San Diego Sheriff's Office called the man's phone, and they say he pulled over about 2 miles away and fled on foot before being arrested, per NBC San Diego.

“The group hoped to expose the male and turn over the information to law enforcement agencies for prosecution,” says San Diego County sheriff’s Sgt. David LaDieu. The teen in the car was unharmed. Police arrested 32-year-old Robert Dreyfus on suspicion of kidnapping, sending harmful matter to a minor, and communication with a minor for specific offenses. The teens told police he was using social media to try to lure underage girls into sexual encounters. (In Texas, police say a 7-year-old girl escaped from a kidnapper's car.)