State police honored local officers and troopers Tuesday for working together this year to apprehend men accused of attempted kidnapping and attempted murder.

The attempted abduction case in Groton City dates to June 25, when a man hiding in the bushes near Shore Avenue and South Prospect Street tried to force a 16-year-old girl into his white GMC pickup truck.

People who witnessed the attempted abduction took the teenager to the police station, where she gave DNA and a description that helped a Stonington officer produce a sketch.

State police detective Michael Hoagland, who lives in Stonington, realized his neighbor resembled the man in the sketch and discussed it with detective Greg Howard of the Stonington Police Department.

The two began watching 34-year-old Matthew Klotz, a registered sex offender, and saw him alter his truck and pack it with bins, police said. They tried to follow Klotz when he left his residence, police said, but lost sight of him and instead asked other departments to watch for the truck.

Trooper First Class Jonathan Kaufman, of Troop G in Bridgeport, spotted the truck on Interstate 95 South in Milford and stopped it June 28. Police said Klotz, whose cellphone had GPS directions to Florida, later said he was planning to move there permanently.

Klotz in 2012 was convicted of attempting to abduct a 20-year-old female jogger at gunpoint in Narragansett, R.I, in 2011. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and paroled from a facility in Cranston, R.I., on April 3, 2017.

Klotz, in custody since Kaufman pulled him over, is being held on a $500,000 bond and is next due in the New London Superior Court where major crimes are heard on Dec. 5.

State police, awarding Hoagland, Howard and Kaufman the Medal for Meritorious Service, said their alert actions "led to the successful apprehension of a dangerous fleeing predator."

Also honored Tuesday were members of the Statewide Narcotics Task Force – East, who on March 12 set up surveillance points throughout New London to catch Taj Johnson, a 24-year-old man wanted in connection with an armed robbery, a shooting and a fight that all occurred in New London.

Police said New London, Norwich, Stonington, Waterford and University of Connecticut officers watched for Johnson without tipping him off and by the afternoon had taken him into custody.

Johnson is accused of robbing a person near 20 Clover Court on March 11, shooting a person in the back inside the Gulf gas station at 290 Broad St. early March 12 and displaying a handgun during a fight at the Public Library of New London later March 12.

Johnson, facing 18 charges including attempt to commit murder, stealing a firearm and criminal possession of a firearm, remains in custody on $851,000 in bonds. He’s next due in court Dec. 4.

State police, who said Johnson's arrest "reflects the selfless dedication of officers to public safety and protection of the community," offered each involved officer a Unit Citation Award.

l.boyle@theday.com