Police Investigate Suspicious Vehicle After Student Reports Stranger Danger

Three days after a student had offered him a ride to school, police received phone calls Friday evening of a similar car driving slowly in two Elkridge areas near children, according to police. 

Police received the first call on Friday just after 5 p.m. from Avalon Drive and Marshalee Drive; the second came in at 5:26 p.m. from Rockburn Woods Way and Montgomery Road. According to police spokeswoman Elizabeth Schroen, both callers said they saw a gray sedan, possibly a Volkswagen, driving slowly near a group of children playing. 

Schroen said both callers had received notice from  to be on the lookout for a suspicious gray vehicle after a student said a man driving such a car offered him a ride to school, then drove off when the student ran away.

Friday’s callers said the driver was an older white man talking on a cell phone, Schroen said, and that the driver did not get out of the car or talk to any children.

Police checked the area extensively, Schroen said, but did not find the vehicle. The calls remain under investigation as possibly related to and police will continue to make regular checks of the area and nearby bus stops.

Police are asking parents to be on the lookout for any suspicious vehicles. If you see one, write down the tag number and note the direction that the vehicle is traveling, then call 911.

Schroen said police investigated a report in April 2011 of a similar incident and determined that the driver in that instance was lost and not a threat.  

With reporting from Elkridge Patch Editor Elizabeth Janney.