Eight-year-old runs from possible abductor

On Monday, March 17, it was reported that a man attempted to lure an eight-year-old Fallbrook Street School student into his vehicle while the child was walking to school.

“A Hispanic male, in a truck, approached the boy and tried to get him to get inside the vehicle,” said Sergeant Theresa Adams-Hydar of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. “The little boy did not get in the vehicle but ran away and told a crossing guard what happened.”

The driver did not physically attempt to get the boy into the truck but tried to verbally entice him to it.

“The man told the boy that he would give him a ride to school,” said Adams-Hydar.

The incident occurred at approximately 7:50 a.m. in the area of Pasadena and Fig streets.

When the boy arrived at school, Adams-Hydar said, the school counselor was immediately informed and the Sheriff’s Department was notified.

A follow-up investigation is currently underway.

“The investigation will be assigned to one of my local detectives here at the station with leads that we have in the case,” said Adams-Hydar. “We do have a vehicle description that we are working on.”

The sergeant said the Sheriff’s Department will be doing extra patrol at the schools as a result of the incident.

This includes beefing up security around the schools for the morning and afternoon shifts, said Adams-Hydar.

The Sheriff’s Department also actively promotes “Stranger-Danger” education.

“Teach your kids that there is absolutely nobody that they should get into a car with other than a parent, trusted family member(s) and friends,” said Adams-Hydar.

If a child is approached by someone unfamiliar, or even someone they do not know very well, they should still flee. “Teach your kids to run and scream to the nearest business or school.”

And if a child is astute enough, encourage them to remember basic vehicle information, who was in the car and what the driver looked like, said Adams-Hydar. “Teach kids what a license plate is; even if they remember a few numbers, that helps.”

More importantly, children should understand that if an incident does happen, they should never be afraid to tell somebody about it.

“If they tell other people, then they are protecting other kids as well,” said Adams-Hydar.

As the Sheriff’s Department collects more information about the March 17 incident, they will make it public, the sergeant said.

Until then, Adams-Hydar asks the public to keep their eyes open and encourages residents to report anyone or any vehicles lingering around a school who does not appear to be dropping off or picking up a specific child.

“If a vehicle like this is consistently there, call the Sheriff’s Department to report a suspicious vehicle,” said Adams-Hydar. “Your call can be anonymous; you don’t have to give your name.”

Principal Diane McClelland of Fallbrook Street School reports that safety education efforts are ongoing at her campus.

“We work really close with John McLelland at the Sheriff’s Department,” she said. “He comes out and does a ‘McGruff Crime Dog’ assembly every year with our students.”

McGruff the Crime Dog is a program sponsored by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department in an effort to educate young children on different levels of safety. This includes the “Stranger-Danger” program.

This special program is available to schools and nonprofit organizations.

McClelland said they augment the Sheriff’s Department program with other in-house efforts at the school.

“We want to be sensitive with the children but still give them the tools they need to be safe,” she said.