(Bel Air, MD – October 16, 2008) – Harford County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a suspicious incident which occurred at the intersection of Duncannon Drive and Charter Oaks Place earlier this morning.
While walking to the bus stop this morning at approximately 6:30 am, a 15 year old girl noticed a light blue, four door vehicle, parked at the intersection of Duncannon Drive and Charter Oaks Place. As she walked by the vehicle, the driver began to yell at her to get in the vehicle. She refused. However, he continued to yell at her to get into the vehicle.
She then ran to a friend’s house in the area. The vehicle was last seen turning onto Duncannon Drive.
The driver is described as a white male in his 30’s, dark hair, with a short hair cut. Deputies canvassed the area; however they were unable to locate the vehicle or driver.
The Sheriff’s Office continues to encourage citizens to report suspicious activity and maintain adult supervision of children. Anyone with information regarding the suspicious person or the incident described is asked to contact the Harford County Sheriff’s Office Southern Precinct at 410-612-1717.
Just got a call from HCPS alerting parents to this incident. The area is near Patterson Mill Middle/High School, where many students are walkers to school.
one question remain’s. are these known predators, that are on the sex offenders list.or are they comeing in from a nother area. I’ve got a little 6 year old girl under temporary custody.
who is escorted to & from school every day. hopefully the word will get out to the parent’s.he will change his tactic’s & try again.
It appears that students and teachers at Patterson Mill MIddle/High School were not informed of this incident, even though parents were getting automated phone calls from HCPS during the school day.
My concern is that students were dismissed from school, many of whom are walkers to the area around the corner from where this occured, without being told of the incident and without being given the description of the man and his vehicle so that they could be on the lookout.
HCPS School Board members should demand an accounting and review of the handling of this incident. It should be the first subject of discussion at the next School Board meeting. It is imperative that the community be told why teachers and students at Patterson Mill High School were not notified of this incident before students were released to walk home at the end of the day. I understand that the last two secondary schools without camera surveillance systems will be receiving them but what good is all of this technology when the human common sense factor is missing? This is totally unacceptable!!!!
vet, I’m afraid you may be right. Does anyone know the link to find registered sex offenders in a given area?
http://www.dpscs.state.md.us/sorSearch/
Good point SZQ. But for what you suggest to happen, the school board would have to feel that they were accountable to the parents, and students. But that is not the case. The school board very arrogantly makes it clear that they only are obediently accountable to the superintendent.
And no matter how many times the director of secondary education misrepresents reality to them or confuses them with misleading statistics, they still swallow it hook line and sinker; rather than admit that they’ve been fooled and embarrassed again. Its pathetic.
Yep thank’s for the heads up. I was thinking if she had got a good look at the predator. she might take a look at the known one’s in the area. it just might make it easier to apprehend the culprit.
If he’s not there. then he is likely new to the area. or just beginning his career which mean’s he will surface again. one report was fallston. several weeks ago one incident I believe in bel air. an now this one.
But apparently not the same man.
Parent, taxpayer and businessman, thanks for the reality check. For a moment there I was day dreaming that we had an accountable elected School Board.
Years ago there was a serious threat against the students at Bel Air High School. The principal had been alerted but did not tell teachers or students. The story, however, was circulating among the students and by 9:30 am, students were in a panic and parents were rushing to the building and demanding that their children be sent home for the day. I was under the impression that after this incident that a policy had been established to address these types of situations. Either I am wrong or this principal has not read his policy handbook on safety and security.
Parent and taxpayer…more than ever I want a fully elected schoolboard…. When I see the parallels to what Mayor Wayne Dougherty does in HdG because he simply can…I thank god in heaven that an election can rid us of him. Yes, the administration members in HdG still do as he askes in reguard of his abususes of power in demanding that they act out on me on his behalf, for his personel reasons. but he will soon be gone.
We need to push for a fully elected board.
Go Dagger !
My children attend HCPS and I happened to be home when the call came from Superintendent Hass. I am most appreciative of being provided this information.
However the biggest question I had was what school district was this in?? HavreDe Grace? Forest Hill? etc. Even if she had said the greater Bel Air Area this would have been helpful. Instead I had to mapquest the names of the two streets to find out-why make this hard for parents??
If I had been at work and received this and known it was in a close vicinity to where my kids attend school, I would have wanted to make arrangements for someone to look in on them. Even the students who are bussed are walking…maybe to an empty house!
Sometimes I think administrators don’t see the forest through the trees..why not tell the students and the faculty in the affected area/school?? Maybe one of them noticed something unusual?? And what about the student involved?/ Was she offered any kind of support at school?? I am sure she needed to talk about it, so students were talking about it. Yet faculty were not informed before notifying ALL Parents of students in HCPS?? Sounds absurd to me.
We entrust our children with these well trained professionals, but a principal decided NOT to inform them?? Does he not trust them? I don’t get it.
Sounds like he made a very poor decision.
Thank goodness no one else was impacted by this.
And as far as cameras and technology…they need to work to be effective!
Thanks Richie and SZQ and Lynne.
Regarding the decision not to tell the students so that they might arrange for a ride home or arrange to walk home with a buddy, here is my take:
When a principal puts the reputation and image of his school above the students’ interests… these sort of things happen; denial starts to become more common; reality gets blurred; especially when he is following the example of the director of secondary education; the fish rots from the head.
Thank goodness we have many strong school principals with conviction who ignore the self-serving guidance of the director of secondary education. Because we DO have some fantastic school administrators in our system. Thank you to all of them.
If we only had a board that protected us from such poor intentions and judgement. Short of that, we would settle for a board that would be outraged by this AND, God help us, ACT on it. But that would mean offending our imperial superintendent.
Is this related or just coincidence?
Police have arrested a 28-year-old man for attempted kidnapping of a 7-year-old boy in White Marsh on Thursday.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-carjack1021,0,7832514.story