Police: Columbia suspect said girls were ‘flaunting themselves’ after bus stop confrontation

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man police say tried to kidnap a Columbia girl at her bus stop Thursday told investigators the alleged victim and another girl were "flaunting" themselves, according to court documents.

Mark L. Martin, 57, of Columbia was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree harassment, a felony. Police in a news release Thursday said a girl reported Martin trying to lure her into his truck at a bus stop at Hyde Park Avenue and Cooper Drive in south Columbia.

The girl told police that she was at the bus stop when a man in a red truck stopped and asked if she wanted a ride, according to a probable cause statement. She refused the man twice before he got out of the truck and approached her, at which time she ran, according to the statement.

A person who was on the phone with the girl corroborated her story, the statement says.

Martin told police he was driving to his apartment near the alleged victim's home when he saw two girls "'flaunting' themselves to him," the statement says. He said he told the girls they "don't belong around here," according to the statement. He said he went to his property manager's address to complain about the girls being prostitutes, the statement says.

The alleged victim told police she was afraid to live near Martin after the incident, according to the statement.

Martin was in the Boone County Jail without bond Friday. An initial court appearance was set for Friday afternoon.