Man Attempting to Lure Girls To His Vehicle

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CEDAR HILL (CBSDFW.COM) – Two incidents in two days in separate North Texas cities.  Now, police in both Arlington and Cedar Hill want to know if the same man is trying to lure middle school girls into his vehicle.  Meanwhile, they're also increasing patrols in the area.

"Anytime we get something like this—it raises our level to very high," says Cedar Hill Police Lt. Colin Chenault.  "We're concerned."

According to police, on Thursday, a girl walking home from W.S. Permenter Middle School on Parkerville Road was approached by a man who offered her a ride. "She told him `no and she kept on walking," says Lt. Chenault.  "He drove away. Apparently, he turned around and came back and made a second attempt to give her a ride home.  She told him `no' again and was scared and then ran home and told her parents."

The girl described the driver as an older white man in his 50s with either bald/thin blonde hair and a beard or full goatee.  He was driving an older model blue, four door passenger car. The description matches that of a man who approached a girl walking home from Cross Timbers Intermediate school in the Mansfield district a day earlier; but, the man was driving an extended cab pickup. The school is within Arlington city limits so police there have been alerted.

"If it is in fact the same person, it is concerning that he has gone from one city to the next now on back to back days and he may be looking for an opportunity," says Lt. Chenault.

But, parents in the area are determined to deny the stranger that opportunity—regardless of his intent.

"He's up to no good," insists a Cedar Hill parent who identified himself as Dr. E. Allen.  Dr. Allen says he keeps a close eye on his own while walking to school.  "I wait until they go in the door when I drop them off, and I'm at the door when they come out, too pick them up. But, that does bring a concern to me."  He now says he will keep an even closer eye on his neighborhood. "Other parents that are unable to walk with their children, I want them to know that these in the neighborhood, when I'm walking: I've got their back!"

Anyone with information is asked to contact police in either city.

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