Increased Patrols After 'Stranger Danger' Incident Near School
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MESQUITE (CBSDFW.COM) - Parents and police in the city of Mesquite are on alert after a child had a frightening experience while walking to school on Tuesday.
The student was on Motley Drive, less than half a mile away from Tosch Elementary School, when a man called out from his vehicle and offered the child a ride to school. After hearing the proposition, an adult woman standing in her yard yelled for the child to keep walking. The person drove away without physically approaching the child.
Once at school the student informed an adult about what happened. Administrators at Tosch Elementary sent a phone alert to parents Tuesday night.
Dorian Degollado, who has a child attending school at Tosch, said it's takes adults working together to watch over children. "Just for everybody else in the community... we've got to try to keep them safe. When we walk to school, or from school to home, there's always a bunch of kids running around with us. We try to make it safe, but you can't keep eyes on everybody."
Witnesses told police the vehicle was a red SUV and looked like a Suzuki. The back driver's side of the vehicle was painted white, as if it had been repaired.
The driver was a white or Hispanic male, had a dark beard and at the time of the incident was wearing a baseball cap.
Police in Mesquite are asking parents and educators to pay special attention to the environment around the school.
Additional school security and police will be patrolling in the area.
Anyone seeing the described vehicle or other suspicious activity is asked to call 911 or notify school district employees.
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