Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410270076
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Last Friday, a Bethel Elementary School student got off his school bus on Radford Road. A man in a dirty, gray, older model, two-door car motioned with his index finger for the boy to come to him. The boy shook his head "no," turned his head and ran away.
The man is described as white, 25-35 years old, 6 feet tall, 220 to 250 pounds, with a beard. The man was wearing a blue baseball cap, blue shirt, blue suspenders and blue jeans.
Tuesday morning, a 13-year-old Christiansburg Middle School student was walking to school on Radford Street when a man in a brown Volvo asked him if he wanted a ride to school. When the boy refused, the man got out of his car and tried to physically force him into the car. The boy was able to break away and run to school, police said.
The man is described as white, 30-35 years old, 6 feet tall, 220 to 250 pounds. He was wearing a red plaid shirt, a white Miami Dolphins cap and greasy blue jeans. He had a mustache but no beard.
It is possible the two boys could be describing the same man, who has shaved his beard since Friday, police said.
Anyone with information about either incident is urged to call the Christiansburg police, 382-3131, or the Sheriff's Office, 382-2951.
The Sheriff's Office also is investigating a third complaint of a man watching a 12-year-old girl get off a school bus in the Ellett community. The man is described as well-groomed, mid-30s, with a brown beard and mustache. The car is a cream-colored.
Parents discussed Tuesday's incident near Christiansburg Middle School at a Parent Teacher Association meeting Tuesday night.
"The student was somewhat shaken by the incident but was otherwise OK," Principal Don Bullock told those attending the meeting.
"It shows us that these things do happen and can happen in a moment," Bullock said. "Share with your children the importance of avoiding strangers. We have to be alert."
Christiansburg Middle School students were sent home Wednesday with a letter from Bullock and Assistant Principal Barbara Clark.
The letter urged parents to talk with their children about the dangers of talking to strangers and ways to deal with any confrontations that may happen.
Teachers at the school will present a lesson Friday on "How to Deal with Strangers."
"Our hope is that each of our students will be able to react as properly as the young man who was approached on Tuesday," Bullock and Clark wrote.
Donna Alvis-Banks contributed information for this story.
by CNB