A man in his 20s attempted to abduct an 11-year-old girl walking home from her school bus stop in Eldorado on Monday afternoon, authorities said.

However, with some help from her 9-year-old neighbor, the girl managed to fight off the man and escape, said Santa Fe County Undersheriff Robert Garcia.

The incident occurred about 3:30 p.m. on Chaparral Court when the man pulled alongside the girl in his black, late-model, four-door sedan and asked her if she knew where a particular person lived, Garcia said. The girl said she didn't, and the man asked her if her parents were home. The girl said they weren't, but were on their way, he said.

The man then got out of his car and grabbed the girl by the arm, Garcia said. At about that point, the girl's 9-year-old neighbor saw what was happening from a second-story room of her nearby home, and began yelling at the man. The 11-year-old also screamed and pushed the man away, Garcia said, which was enough to scare off the man.

The 9-year-old told her parents what she'd seen, and they called 911, he said. The parents then went out looking for the man but couldn't find him. Deputies also didn't find the man, Garcia said.

The girls, who both go to El Dorado Community School, described the man as between 20 and 30 years old, wearing a black hoodie, an orange beanie and gray sweat pants, he said. The man's black car had a dent on the right front door, and the man had a white dog in the car with him, Garcia said.

Detectives plan to speak with the girl — who suffered a scraped forearm and was upset after the incident — this morning to try to get a better description of the man, he said.

Anyone with information about the man can call the Sheriff's Office at 428-3720.