PORTAGE | A 12-year-old Portage girl told police a man in a car tried to abduct her while she was walking to a friend's home Tuesday evening.

Portage police said the incident occurred about 5:30 p.m. in the area of Boulder Avenue and Oakwood Street.

The girl told police the perpetrator stopped his white four-door car -- possibly a Ford -- and asked her for directions. The girl told police she gave the man directions, at which time he motioned her toward him, telling her she had something on her face. The girl told police she approached the car, at which time the man reached out and grabbed her left wrist.

The girl told police she fought back and was able to pull away from the man's grasp and run home.

The girl described the perpetrator as a dark-skinned black male in his 30s, muscular, with a short Afro, long sideburns and a thin vertical patch of hair on his chin. He was wearing a white muscle shirt. She described the man's voice as sounding as if it were sore, but also high and squeaky at times.

Portage police spokesman Sgt. Keith Hughes said police are advising parents to remind their children about stranger danger. Police also recommend parents act out scenarios to test if their children learned what they were taught.

Children are advised not to approach anyone they are not familiar with, even if the person is asking for directions, looking for a dog or offering candy. Children should run away from strangers, find an adult and report any suspicious activity to police immediately. In addition, police advise children to walk in groups, if possible.

Hughes said he isn't aware of any similar abduction attempts in the area. Last spring, Valparaiso police received several reports of suspicious people approaching children, so they went into the city's elementary schools and middle schools to put on stranger danger convocations.

Anyone with information about Tuesday's incident is asked to call Portage police at (219) 762-3122 or text the word PPDTIP followed by the message to 847411.