Highway Patrol arrests man, charges him with trying to lure a 12-year-old girl

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Florida Highway Patrol arrested and charged a man with trying to lure a 12-year-old girl from a bus stop Wednesday, next to an apartment complex off of Ortiz Avenue.

According to FHP, the girl told a state trooper that she had missed her bus and was walking back to her home at the Vistas of Eastwood. That’s when she says 37-year-old Thomas Karba started following her closely, asking where she lived and how old she was.

Fort Myers Community Corespondent Stephen Pimpo has the story:

The girl told troopers the 6-foot- 5-inch man’s size and aggressive questions made her afraid and she went right to her father once she got to her apartment.

The girl and her father told troopers they saw Karba circle the apartment multiple times, prompting the father to call FHP. The father told troopers he saw Karba try to get into the apartment complex by sneaking through the bushes.

FHP stopped Karba, who claimed he went to the complex to find a place to rent. But management told FHP he never came to the leasing office and has no family there.

A background check revealed Karba had charges in California related to kidnapping and assault with intent to rape and had been arrested before in Florida for stalking and attempting to lure a child under 12.

FHP arrested Karba and charged him with luring or enticing a child, stalking, following and harassing and loitering or prowling.