Cops say last attempted kidnapping by a stranger in SBC was more
than 10 years ago by a convicted sexually-violent predator
San Juan Bautista – A San Juan Bautista man was arrested Thursday by San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies for attempting to abduct a young girl as she was walking to work on Monday.
Deputies arrested Paul Dobine, 68, of 1003 Third St. in San Juan Bautista, for attempted kidnapping Thursday morning after he allegedly tried to coerce a 16-year-old girl to get into his late-model Ford station wagon on Monday morning, according to Deputy Rich Brown.
Dobine allegedly ordered the girl to get into his car several times while she was walking on Third Street, near Church Street. When she told Dobine that she was walking to work for exercise, he told her that “she would get plenty of exercise later,” Brown said.
Dobine again ordered her to get in the car, but when she politely refused again, he got angry, Brown said. The victim then walked quickly to her work place. Dobine followed her in his car for one block before driving off, Brown said.
The victim was scared and did not report the incident until Wednesday, Brown said. Police arrested Dobine after the victim positively identified the man, a customer at the place she works, Brown said. The girl was shaken by the incident, but not injured.
Dobine, who has been arrested several times for burglary and check fraud, did not know the victim, Brown said.
“There was no relationship that would have permitted a 68-year-old man to want to coerce a 16-year-old into his car,” Brown said.
Undersheriff Pat Turturici said Dobine did not cooperate with police during an interview.
“That’s a red flag,” Turturici said. “He hasn’t been able to give us a reason for why he wanted this girl in his car, and that’s alarming.”
Turturici said crimes such as kidnapping are uncommon in small communities like San Juan Bautista.
“It’s rare that this happens, it’s rare that we caught the guy right away and it’s rare that the victim, who is a juvenile, would report the crime,” he said.
Most juveniles, Turturici said, let such crimes go unreported because they are afraid to come forward.
Turturici said the last person arrested for attempted kidnapping in San Benito County that he could remember was Lance Purcell. In 1994, Purcell attempted to kidnap a 5-year-old girl in front of her home. Purcell, already a convicted rapist at the time, was later sentenced to a state mental hospital.
Dobine is being held at the San Benito County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. If convicted of attempted kidnapping, he could face up to four years in prison.
