Girl, 16, Escapes Kidnaping Attempt; Suspect Arrested : Crime: Victim was walking in Garden Grove when a man in a car grabbed her. She broke away and wrote the license number on her hand, then called police.

GARDEN GROVE —  A man suspected of trying to kidnap a 16-year-old girl walking from a fast-food restaurant was arrested in front of his house 20 minutes later after the girl broke away and called the police, authorities said Thursday.

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Jose Palaminos Carranza, 36, of Anaheim was arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnaping and indecent exposure about 7 p.m. Wednesday, Police Lt. John Woods said.

The teen-ager, whose name was withheld, was walking east in the 9800 block of Garden Grove Boulevard when she discovered a man following her in a car.

The man began speaking to her, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying and proceeded to the restaurant, according to police.

The man waited for the girl while she was in the restaurant, Woods said.

When she came out, the suspect, still in his car, reached out and grabbed her by the wrist, Woods said.

The car swerved onto the sidewalk as the man struggled to drive while gripping the girl, Woods said. The girl broke free and ran to a nearby business, where she called the police from a phone booth.

The girl was able to provide descriptions of the man and his vehicle, complete with a license plate number she had written on the palm of her hand, Woods said.

Officers went to the address registered to the car owner and arrested Carranza without incident.

Carranza, who was later identified in a lineup by the victim, was being held at the Orange County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The girl was not injured, Woods said.