Two 14-year-old girls each reported being approached by a stranger in a vehicle claiming to know them on separate occasions last week.
The child enticement incidents were reported in Madison mid-week. Both girls ran from the suspect vehicles and were unharmed.
The incidents appear to be unrelated, as suspect and vehicle descriptions do not match.
The first incident occurred on Wednesday evening. The report from the Madison Police Department said the victim was walking near Memorial High School on South Gammon Road when a man in a red four-door sedan stopped near her.
He said his name was Gary and claimed to know the girl, saying he thought they had done drugs together at a party, the report said. The victim turned down the ride offer and when she ran toward Mineral Point Road, the suspect drove away, the report stated.
Thursday morning a stranger in an SUV approached a girl walking to the south transfer point. The police report states the man said something to the effect of “don’t I know you?”
According to the report, the girl walked toward an apartment building and the man drove into the parking lot of the building and got out of his vehicle. When he exited his vehicle the girl ran to the south transfer point and the suspect later drove past her while she awaited her bus, the report stated.
“The two females had a conversation after they were both at school and came to realize they had similar experiences,” MPD spokesperson Howard Payne said.
The first victim reported the incident at a police station on McKenna Boulevard. Payne said the second victim might have called police after she arrived at school.
Payne said in child enticement cases the department gives patrol officers suspect and vehicle descriptions. He also encourages citizens who see something that matches the descriptions to call police so they can follow up on it.
Police reports describe the suspect in the first incident as a white male, age 50-70, wearing glasses in a red four-door sedan. The second suspect is described as a black male in his 30’s, with a shaved head, driving a purple- or maroon-colored SUV.
“[Child enticement] is of concern to the department largely because it’s involving kids,” Payne said. “They don’t have the same level of protection as adults.”
Payne noted the D.A.R.E. program and other safety education classes offered by MPD partner with the Madison Metropolitan School District to teach students about personal safety. He also said parents should be talking to their children about what to do in these situations.
Ald. Mark Clear, District 19, represents where the first incident took place.
“In general it’s a very safe area,” Clear said of his district. He added, “I can’t recall [a similar incident] ever, and I’ve been there 11 years.”
There have been four child enticement incident reports thus far in 2010. Yearly reports fluctuate over the last five years from as many as 20 enticement incident reports released in 2009 by MPD, to eight in 2006.
