Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Police Step up Patrols near Avery Elementary after Stranger Incident

Student says man approached him in a car asking him if he wanted some candy.

Webster Groves police say they are increasing patrols near Avery Elementary School in light of an incident yesterday in which a student was approached by a stranger in a car.

Shortly before 9 a.m. on Monday, the 10-year-old boy told school administrators that a man in a four-door silver car had asked him if he wanted some candy, said  Cathy Vespereny, community relations director with the Webster Groves School District. The man asked the question through an open window while he continued driving south on Bompart Avenue.

The boy, who said the man was white and had a beard, was walking to school on when the incident occurred, according to information on the Webster Groves Police Department's website. The boy immediately ran into the school at 909 N. Bompart Ave. and told a teacher what had happened.

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"The little boy did the right thing, and we're very proud of him," Vespereny said. "It just goes to show that students are listening to what they hear at school and at home."

Webster Groves police officer Russ Nannally, who often provides school safety lectures, recommends that parents share the following precautionary information with their children in the event they are approached by anyone in a vehicle.

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"First and foremost, if it's someone you don't know, never ever approach a vehicle," he said.

Nunnally added that children should never leave the sidewalk and in fact, they should run in the opposite direction if they are approached.

"And always tell an adult what happened when you get to school or home," he said.


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