Reports Of Strangers Following Children Have Pocket Parents On Alert

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Parents in the Pocket area are on alert after several reports of different cars following students as they walk to Matsuyama Elementary school. The latest incident led one mother to get the police involved.

"The way the world is today, I don't trust anything that goes on," said Wendie Adversalo, whose 9-year-old grandsons attend Matsuyama. "I have heard some stories around the school here."

It all started two weeks ago, when the school found out about a white van that approached a group of children. Principal Judy Montgomery sent out a note to parents letting them know what had happened.

"Just to let parents be aware," Montgomery said. "Let them know that somebody reported something and it also lets them know I'm on it. I'm not turning my back to it, I'm aware and I'm acting on incidents."

Then a few days later, a girl told the school that a truck followed her while walking her dog. And last Friday, a boy told his mother about a car driving slowly behind him on the way to school. But Sgt. Bryce Heinlein with Sacramento Police said they've looked into all three incidents and none of them appear to be related.

"They all have different vehicle descriptions, different person descriptions you know and there was actually no threat to any of the kids," he said.

Montgomery said in the second case, it turns out the person in the truck was just a grandparent learning a new route to pick up his granddaughter. But in today's world, she understands a child's desire to be extra cautious.

"Their perception of your actions may be very different than what your actions actually are," Montgomery said.

Still, Montgomery makes it a priority to keep parents in the loop, even if it's a false alarm.

"I've been getting a couple of notifications from the school," said father Andre Norton, whose daughter goes to Matsuyama. "I want to sit out here and watch whoever's watching for my kid. I want to start paying more attention, definitely."

In two of these cases, the children didn't get a good description of the drivers. But Principal Montgomery told CBS 13, the takeaway is that if you see something, say something because it's better to be safe than sorry.