WOONSOCKET — Six state troopers are working with city police to beef up patrols after a man attempted to abduct a Woonsocket High School girl Tuesday.

Acting Police Chief Eric Croce held a news conference yesterday to announce that the city has increased patrols and to appeal to the public to report anything they might have seen that could be connected to the incident on Elm Avenue. The girl said she was abducted on her way to school at 8:35 a.m. and escaped at Wood Avenue and Mill Street when the man slowed his car for traffic.

Croce said that the city police had increased patrols and that the state police would assist them when children are walking to and from school. There are 18 schools in the city.

The police have no suspects in the attempted kidnapping, Croce said. “We are appealing to the public for help,” he said.

The 15-year-old girl was on Elm Street Tuesday morning when a man jumped from a car and pushed her inside. The girl was in the car just minutes, Croce said. She jumped out of the car and ran for help when the car slowed for traffic.

“I think that was a petty smart thing to do,” Croce said.

Schools Supt. Maureen Macera said there was another incident where a fourth-grade girl from Citizens Memorial Elementary School was talked to by a man in a car but she ran back into the building.

Police Capt. Walter Warot said that the high school girl has described the man who tried to kidnap her as in his 20s, with light brown hair and clean sideburns attached to a trim beard. He was wearing blue jeans and a black baggy shirt. Warot said the girl described his car as a midsized black vehicle, possibly with a gray interior and a wood-grained dash.

Warot said that the elementary school girl gave a similar description of the man who spoke to her except she said he was wearing a Yankees baseball cap. The girl described the man’s car as light brown or tan, Warot said. He said the police are investigating whether the incidents are related. He asked that anyone with information regarding the attempted kidnapping call him at (401) 766-1212.

Macera said she was grateful for the added patrols. “Beefing up the patrols is extremely important,” she said. “Many parents were driving their children to school. They are not letting them walk.”

The day of the attempted abduction, letters written in English and in Spanish were sent home telling parents and guardians to discuss the importance of the situation with their children and to instruct those who must walk to and from school to walk in groups.

Cindy MacNeill, a member of the Parent Advisory Council who has a child who attends Citizens Memorial, said, “Parents are a little shaken up wondering, who is this guy? Where is he from, and why is he in our neighborhood? It was good to get the information in your hands before I saw it in the news,” she said.

“I have told my children not to talk to anybody. My son walks my dogs around the perimeter of my house, nowhere else. I told him to use the dog as a defense. If anybody tries to take you, bite them, kick them, yell and scream. Do not talk to strangers, don’t go near anyone’s car if they try to talk to you. You have to keep an eye on them and be there 24/7,” she said.

tpina@projo.com