Local

Girl followed into Virginia-Highland home

ATLANTA — Atlanta police are trying to track down a man who followed a 12-year-old into her home.

The girl was biking to Inman Middle School in northeast Atlanta's Virginia-Highland neighborhood around 9 a.m. Thursday. Before she reached school, the girl returned home because she forgot her bike lock, police said.

Police said the girl left the door unlocked for the quick stop, but a man followed her inside. She told investigators he asked to use the phone, and she told him to leave.

"The juvenile told the male to leave, but he did not and told her to go upstairs and began to move toward her," Atlanta police spokesman John Chafee said in a news release.

The girl screamed and pushed the man out of the way so she could run outside, police said. They said the man then took off in a gold sedan.

Neighbors told Channel 2's Erica Byfield they are determined to help police find the man.

"For someone to go into someone's house, there is never a time that is going to be OK," resident David Eckoff said.

Police only have a vague description of the man. They said he is a clean shaven 6 foot 1-inch white man with blond hair and a buzz cut. He was wearing a navy blue coat at the time.