South Carolina deputies are investigating a report of an attempted kidnapping Saturday evening of an 11-year-old boy.

A group of the boy’s friends told the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office they saw the boy “roughhousing” with an unknown suspect, WCSC reported. They reported that they thought the boy knew the suspect until he started running away, according to an incident report.

The boy fell, the friends said, and the suspect grabbed him by the legs and began dragging him toward the woods. One of the witnesses reported that she thought the boy did something to defend himself, causing the suspect to run away.

According to WCIV, the victim told deputies he was with his family at about 8:30 p.m. when he saw the suspect standing by the woods and thought it was a friend. He approached the suspect, who grabbed him by the legs and began dragging him into the woods, the boy said. The suspect let him go and ran off.

K-9 units were sent into the area to try to track the suspect, according to the incident report.

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