School and police officials in Walnut Creek are warning parents in our town to be wary of a suspicious seen lurking around our schools, most recently around Foothill Middle School.
Police are concerned that this man and woman could be related to two possible attempted kidnappings around Pleasant Hill Middle School and one in Concord. In the first incident, on September 3, a man approached a Pleasant Hill Middle School student and tried to convince him to come with him into his car; a woman was him.
In the second incident, on September 9, a man in his 50s used "aggressive language" in an attempt to lure a Pleasant Hill Middle School student, walking by himself, into getting in the man's car. Walnut Creek School District Superintendent Patricia Wool also sent out a warning to parents in her school district about this incident.
Then on on Saturday evening, the Mayor again reported, a man and woman approached an 11-year-old in the Crystal Ranch area of Concord and tried to lure the child into a car.
With regard to the Walnut Creek incident, Claycord.com is reporting today that it occurred on August 31, the first day of school in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Information about the incident comes from the principal at Foothill Middle School who sent home a note to parents from Walnut Creek police Detective Greg Leonard.
This incident, like the others in Pleasant Hill and Concord, involves a man and a woman behaving suspiciously.
According to the detective's letter, a man and woman were seen near the school field on Cedro Lane. The man stayed on the south side of the Cedro Lane, had a video camera and appeared to be taping the surroundings, "including the students walking by." His female companion appeared to be looking around, as if she were looking for a child.
The man was described as a white male adult, in his 40s or 50s, with short gray hair, and thin to medium build. The woman was Hispanic or Middle Eastern, 30 to 40 years old, with a thin build, dark wavy hair, and wavy.
If you see anyone matching this description in your neighborhood or around your kids' schools, call 911 or your local police department.
13 comments:
Do we really believe that there is such a rash of attempted child abductions in the area? Or could it be that we are witnessing a mass hysteria following the Jaycee Dugard case fueled by bloggers?
Just wondering?
8:11 I think you're right.
Anon Sept. 14 8:11 p.m.
It is possible that you're right. Don't have the statistics in front of me, but, as I've said before, stranger abductions, of the sort we read so much about, including Jaycee Dugard, are extremely rare crimes. Your kids are in greater danger of being hurt by someone you and your family know, including relatives, including of the stranger cruising around in the old-model sedan or van. Or even, yes, the creepy neighbor down the street.
Rare or not it does seem as though there is one very determined individual stalking at the moment.
LefCoast
Why do you assume there is such an individual? Middle aged white man with short gray hair doesn't seem a very specific description and my point is if you scare children enough they will find a suspicious acting person fitting that description which just feed a vicious cycle.
Because anonymous, he was trying to get them into a car. I am not just refering to the incident at WC middle shcool. Pleasant Hill has also had an incident.
Who said anything about scaring children? The parents should be managing that message, including saying nothing at all or just saying make sure you don't get into cars with strangers.
LeftCoast
First of course when I said if you scare children enough i didn't mean you LeftCoast, but you parents who are still on the edge from the Jaycee Dugard case.
Second I admit I don't have enough information at this point but I can very well imagine that even "getting somebody into a car" might just be perception unless of course you have physical proof such as marks indicating a physical struggle.
Thirdly I was reacting to your implication of a "very determined individual" which at least seem to have indicated that you must be referring to multiple incidents.
I'm just suspicious why we have all by a sudden all these incidents in the WC, Concord, PH area while I agree that such incidents seem to be thanks god in general rare. Furthermore if there was a very determined individual doing this, why would he not have been successful by now? If somebody really is that determined it couldn't be that hard?
"If somebody really is that determined it couldn't be that hard?"
Perhaps it is thanks to the "fear" and the heightened awareness that it is hard!
Do you know that it is more likely to get hit by lightening than eaten by a shark? Do you know that surfers still think about sharks when they get in the water? Especially in CA? Do you undrstand why I just included that? Probability of abduction is irrelevant here. Have you checked out the number of registered predators in the area lately, and the number who have no know known address?
Why wouldn't you wnat heightened awareness and why do you feel it is so overblown? Why do you think getting a kid into a car must only be provable if there are signs of a struggle? You almost sound defensive of a potential perp.
LeftCoast
"You almost sound defensive of a potential perp."
So why do you have to resort name calling and personal attacks?
Probability of abduction is not irrelevant to my point because it tells me that thanks god these events are rare. So why would there be all by a sudden such a rash of reports in this area?
Have I checked the numbers of registered sex offenders? No I actually have not, but I'm sure that this number didn't explode all by a sudden in the last two weeks. So if that is the explanation for all these reports why were there not daily reports two weeks ago?
I have no interest in defending a sexual predator, but I also object to create this society of fear and mistrust. I'm sure that you followed the story on another local unnamed blog where people were ready to string up an innocent seventy year old Dutch grandfather videotaping the first school day of his granddaughter.
Anonymous said:
"Why do you assume there is such an individual? Middle aged white man with short gray hair doesn't seem a very specific description"
And yet that is the description of the eyewitnesses. Your statement tries to invalidate that.
Anonymous said:
"even "getting somebody into a car" might just be perception unless of course you have physical proof such as marks indicating a physical struggle."
Here you take the side of someone who was trying to get an 11 year old into a car with him, again in spite of what occurred to the child. The fact you seem to require evidence of struggle as proof actually scares me a bit.
Aninymous said:
"Your kids are in greater danger of being hurt by someone you and your family know, including relatives, including of the stranger cruising around in the old-model sedan or van. Or even, yes, the creepy neighbor down the street."
Here again you present a statement that disregards what actually occurred, thus diffusing the concern expressed by the community.
And finally Anonymous said:
So why do you have to resort name calling and personal attacks?
I didn't. The statements I quoted above led me to also make a statement about the side of the situation you seem to be taking.
There was no name calling, so please don't read into things that aren't there or that I have not said.
Now do I think there is someone attempting to abduct a kid right now? Yes I do. I do not believe that sexual predators can be reformed.
Do I think you are really defending whoever this is? No not really. I just find it interesting you haven't made any statements in support of heightened awareness by parents. Is it unfortunate that the gentleman videotaping his granddaughter came under suspicion? Yes, but even if it was me I'd appreciate what the community was trying to ensure right now.
LeftCoast -- you really need to calm down and maybe cut back a little off whatever you might be on right now....
Not only do you interpret and misrepresent my statements you also attribute statements made by others to me. The creepy neighbor down the street was not me but Soccer Mom.
Oops no I don't call her the creepy neighbor down the street I just refer to her statement ;-)
And I don't know why you are so upset and were calling me perp defender, or almost a potential perp defender. Sorry that I didn't realize that in your world this is a term of endearment.
So my point is that I refuse to join a lynch mob ready with their pitchforks ready to string anybody who in their assessment might look suspicious from the next tree based on some irrational mass hysteria.
Of course there should be education of children and I don’t want them to trust blindly, but the result of the current climate of hysteria is that every day there are more and more reports of attempted child abduction in our community which I simply don’t buy.
Sorry but I'm not on anything. I will at least retract the misattributed quote, my fault there.
I disagree that there is hysteria, and I still think your requirement of physical evidence of abduction in order to validate the childs statment is creepy. I didn't misstate you, they were your words in context with the position you advocate.
Maybe you had one too many Peet's today? Either way I'm not sure there is much more to be gained here. If you are a parent and your son or daughter comes home and says someone tried to get them to get into a car, please give them the benefit of the doubt though.
LeftCoast once again I guess I should assume that you use creepy as a term of endearment.
You base your entire argument on the fact that the "very determined individual" was trying to get a child into his car.
All I said was that I don't know the facts (and I assume it is fair to believe that you don't know them either) and that it is very much possible that absent any clear physical evidence trying to get somebody into a car could very well be simple perception of a frightened and scarred child.
I'm just baffled that you need to label me for that reason a defender of perps or creepy?
I'm just looking at the facts which are that there are now almost daily multiple reports of attempted child abduction in WC, Concord and PH.
What is the explanation for this?
I) in the last two weeks a handful of men in our area have all by a sudden gotten the urge to abduct a child even though they seemed to have had their urges well controlled in the past?
II) A single person (actually a single couple) is very determined to grab a child from a street and had about a dozen unsuccessful attempts so far, but keeps trying. Although it seems very hard to believe that two adults wouldn’t be able to drag a child into a car if they are so determined?
III) Maybe we are witnessing a case of mass hysteria following a very highly publicized and traumatic event?
Now because at this time I choose to believe explanation number III) to be the most rationale that doesn't make me more creepy or more a defender of perps than you.
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