Man Charged After Trying To Lure Girl Into His Car

PARK FOREST, Ill. (STMW) - A Park Forest man has been charged with stalking an 11-year-old Orland Park girl after trying to lure her into his car when she was walking with a 9-year-old friend, police said.

Jim Shaver, 56, 10 Brookside Road, Park Forest, used to baby-sit for the girl when she and her mother lived in Park Forest before moving to Orland Park two years ago. Police saw Shaver's car parked on the east side of Nicole Court on March 16, when a girl standing nearby flagged down the patrol car.

Shaver drove away, but the girl told police Shaver asked her to get in his car so he could return her keys and they could "go cruising." The girl refused and asked Shaver to throw the keys out the window. Shaver then told her to meet him the next day so they could get a milkshake, police said.

The 11-year-old's mother told police she had a falling out with Shaver and his wife after growing uncomfortable with their relationship with her daughter, saying they had become "overprotective." The mother detailed incidents where her daughter felt uncomfortable at the Shaver's home and began "crying hysterically" when told she had to spend the night.

The girl's mother forbid Shaver to have any contact with her after an incident in December. In February, the mother's boyfriend and a teacher at the girl's school told police they had spotted Shaver near the building at dismissal time. The teacher turned over to police cell phone photos she shot of a man, whom police identified as Shaver.

Police also found an aerial photograph of the apartment building where the victim and her mother live when searching Shaver's laptop computer.

Police said Shaver, who is facing a single count of felony stalking, has no criminal history, further charges are not expected. A Cook County judge ordered Shaver not contact the victim, Cook County state's attorney spokesman Andy Conklin said. Shaver is due back in court April 11, Conklin said.

Shaver was not available for comment, his wife Diana Shaver said. She said her husband was "set up" and will plead innocent. Mrs. Shaver said the couple had developed a grandparent-like relationship with the girl, whom they've known since April 2007.

Shaver said the girl had stayed with them often, and had gone on vacations with them. Shaver asked the girl if he could talk to her, but didn't ask her to get in the car, she said.

"We love her because she was like a granddaughter to us," she said.

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