Mom confronts man trying to lure crying teens from school bus stop, Tennessee cops say
A Nashville man is accused of following teenage girls in the dark of early morning to their school bus stop, then trying to lure them to his car as one teen’s mother confronted him, police said.
Three girls, ages 13 and 15, told police they were followed by 31-year-old Levi P. Combs as they walked to the bus stop for school just before 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 30, according to a Dec. 4 news release from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Combs was first noticed by one teen as she walked alone toward the bus stop and Combs began to follow her, police said.
When she realized she was being followed, the teen started to walk faster, and Combs matched her speed, according to the release.
Combs called out to the girl and told her to stop, police said, causing the teen to instead take off running.
“The teen contacted her mother and told her she was being followed,” police said.
A second teen then joined the first, and Combs continued to follow them, according to the release.
Combs used a breezeway to hide himself from the girls as he pursued, police said.
A third teen walked up to the bus stop and found one girl crying as Combs stared at them and walked closer, police said.
That’s when the first teen’s mom arrived at the bus stop and confronted Combs, according to the release.
She told Combs to “go away” and “leave them alone” as Combs continued to stare at the girls, police said, before she asked what Combs wanted.
He told the mother he “wanted to talk to them in his car,” according to police, referencing his BMW sedan parked nearby.
The mother took photos of Combs that were shared with Youth Services detectives, the department said.
Just hours later, Combs was spotted trying to get inside a preschool building, police told WZTV.
Combs, who lives just a mile from the school bus stop, turned himself in to police after being contacted by detectives Dec. 1, according to the release.
Combs was charged with three counts of attempted kidnapping and three counts of assault by intimidation, police said.
Combs lives in the Hermitage neighborhood of Nashville, on the city’s east side.
Metro Nashville Council Public Safety Committee Chair Erin Evans told WZTV the neighborhood is notoriously dark and not well lit.
The girls were walking to their bus stop before sunrise, the outlet reported, and Evans said incidents like this support Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s efforts to adjust school start times.
“It’s definitely something if I were a parent, I’d be wanting to investigate further in how we could help improve the safety considerations related to school safety and start times,” she told WZTV.
14-year-old found shot to death in a neighborhood in north Charlotte
14-year-old driver loses control, sending SUV full of teens sliding off cliff, cops say
Man kidnaps woman with dementia from hospital and steals thousands from her, feds say
Man sexually assaulted four unconscious women and recorded it, Colorado officials say
