Police looking for man who tried to kidnap 12-year-old girl from a Tacoma restaurant

Police are searching for a man who tried to kidnap a 12-year-old girl from a fast food restaurant in Tacoma.

Joshua Rosborough, 37, was charged Wednesday with attempted second-degree kidnapping.

An attorney he spoke with about the case told officers he doesn’t believe Rosborough is in Pierce County any longer but doesn’t know where to find him.

The incident took place Nov. 30 but prosecutors held off charging the case because police were trying to locate and interview Rosborough.

Charging papers give this account:

The girl got out of school and was waiting for her mother to pick her up, so she walked across Sixth Avenue to a store to buy a root beer.

As she was crossing the parking lot, she spotted a man in a truck “honking his horn and gesturing for her to come over to his vehicle,” records say.

The girl ignored him and went into a fast-food restaurant.

Rosborough moved his truck, parking it right outside the entrance and continued to motion for the girl to come outside.

When she looked away, he walked into the restaurant and allegedly told her “come on” and “let’s go.”

She pretended to talk on her cell phone in hopes that he would go away, but Rosborough held up his hand like he wanted to high-five her.

The girl did so and started crying when he interlocked their fingers.

Rosborough briefly left the restaurant but came back once more to try to lure the 12-year-old into leaving with him.

When he left, she called her older brother for help.

Police reviewed surveillance footage from the fast food restaurant and were able to see part of the man’s license plate.

Officers figured out who he was and spoke with Rosborough on the phone.

Rosborough said he was a “busy person” and couldn’t remember everywhere he’d been on the day of the attempted kidnapping.

He did not show up on the date officers were scheduled to interview him and did not retain the attorney he asked to call police and figure out what he was wanted for.

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 9:05 AM.