“Following reports and pictures by some local newspapers and on websites claiming the emergence of a second man accused of kidnapping girls in Jeddah, with published photographs allegedly showing the suspect being arrested by the police in front of his vehicle, Jeddah police would like to clarify to the public that the individual shown is actually a suspected car thief in the Al-Nuzlah district,” police spokesman Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq said on Thursday.

Al-Bouq’s statement follows reports that claimed a man had been arrested for attempting to kidnap a nine-year-old girl in Al-Nuzlah district of south Jeddah on Wednesday afternoon.

The media reported that when a pedestrian noticed the would-be kidnapper forcing the victim from the sidewalk to his car, he rushed to her aid. The man fled but local residents alerted police, giving them a description of him and his vehicle, the reports claim.

Police tracked him down to the Balad district and after a 15-minute chase caught him, claimed the reports.

According to a police source, the man had an extensive criminal history.

The incident follows the arrest of a schoolteacher in connection with at least 13 kidnappings and brutal rape attacks on little girls since 2008.