A tip about a blue minivan led Kennewick police to the man suspected of a brazen attempt to force a teen into his vehicle.
Kennewick police posted the picture of the van Devin S. Katsel allegedly was driving when he started talking to a girl on her way to Park Middle School shortly before noon on Oct. 19.
One of the tips Kennewick police received led officers to a home on the 3300 block of Kennewick Avenue at 2 p.m. where they found the van and Katsel.
He is being held in lieu of $250,000 at the Benton County jail on suspicion of luring and second-degree child molestation.
Police believe Katsel was sitting in the blue minivan parked at the intersection of 10th Avenue and Benton Street as the middle school student was headed for school.
The teen had overslept and was late for class. She going to cross 10th Avenue at Benton Street, when she spotted the van.
She was waiting for the driver to go before she tried to cross the street, she told police.
Instead, he called to the teen that she was pretty and asked if she needed a ride.
After she said that she didn't, he asked if she "smoked weed," according to court documents. When she said she didn't, he asked for her phone number.
Since the van wasn't moving, she crossed 10th Avenue. When she reached the other side, Katsel allegedly got out of his van and approached her.
He put his arm on the back of her arm and began pushing her toward the van. He said he would give her a ride. Then he allegedly groped her.
She pulled away and went to the school, and he got back into the van and drove away.
Once she got to school she reported the attack to a counselor, and it was reported to a school resource officer.
Police shared pictures of the van and a tipster recognized it and called police. The detectives were able to link it through distinctive features, Sgt. Chris Littrell told the Herald.
Detectives tracked him to the 3300 block of West Kennewick Avenue where he was arrested Friday.
While Katsel has some previous convictions for minor theft and marijuana possession when he was a juvenile, he doesn't have a history of sex crimes.
