Homeless man arrested for trying to lure 13-year-old girl into his car
ABOVE: Timothy Kottler booking photo (Sonoma County Sheriff)
SANTA ROSA // Sonoma County Sheriff’s Detectives have arrested a local homeless man after identifying him as the suspect who reportedly tried to lure a 13-year-old girl into his car on March 21st.
At around 2 PM that day, the girl was walking home from school in Larkfield when the suspect — identified as 47-year-old Timothy James Kottler — pulled up next to her in a silver Pontiac Grand Prix and asked her if she needed a ride. He’d also already opened his car door, claiming the window was broken.
The girl refused and continued walking, during which Kottler continued to talk to her, at one point asking for her phone number. Then, when he noticed the AT&T technician watching from a nearby driveway, Kottler drove off.
The technician provided the responding deputy with a vehicle description and a plate, but the plate number came back with no match. Dispatch then ran a combination of different plates until finally receiving a hit on a ’90s Pontiac out of Sebastopol. When deputies contacted the registered owner, they learned that the vehicle had recently been sold to Kottler.
Kottler, who is homeless, was eventually located at the Mission in downtown Santa Rosa around 5 PM on Friday, March 23rd. Following an interview, authorities were able to positively identify him as the man who’d approached the girl and booked him for annoying/molesting a victim under 18 years of age.
