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Police: Attempted Luring Shakes Up Clifton, N.J. Neighborhood

CLIFTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A search was underway Thursday for a pair of men wanted in an attempted luring.

Police in Clifton said they tried to get a teenage girl to leave her backyard.

Investigators said a teenage girl was in the backyard of her home on Dumont Avenue on Wednesday when the man tried to lure her to come get a package from him. Instead, she got scared and ran into her home and called 911.

The 13-year-old took a cellphone video of what appears to be a white commercial van driving away from her house following the alleged incident, which police said happened at around 3 p.m.

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Clifton attempted luring
Police are looking for this van following the attempted luring of a 13-year-old girl on Oct. 17, 2018, in Clifton, New Jersey. (Photo: Clifton Police)

The teen told police she noticed the van slowly following another teenage girl on her way home after school, and then a short while later she said that same van parked in her backyard.

She said the driver stayed in the vehicle, but the passenger got out, came into the yard and waved a paper at her and told her to come get a package.

She ran inside and called police, and her mother.

"She got startled and said, 'Oh no, not me,' and ran into the house. The dog followed her. She locked all the doors," the mother said.

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A next-door neighbor said he remembered hearing about a luring incident involving a white van in neighboring Paterson and put his boys on alert.

"We teach our boys to stay away from these white vans pulling up and then when it happened here, I mean literally so close to home, it's like, all right, we need to really do something," Joe Esposito said.

Police said the first letter on the van's license plate was reported as being "X," which indicates a commercially registered vehicle in New Jersey. The van also has lettering on the side and some graffiti on the back.

If you see a vehicle matching that description, police in Clifton ask that you give them a call. The Clifton Board of Education also sent out a notice to parents, telling them to warn their children to be on the lookout.

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