The student also saw the vehicle—a metallic blue, four-door 2001 Ford Taurus driven by a man in his early 40s—parked outside her home the next day. Her family contacted police, who located the man and questioned him on Thursday.
The individual is not from the immediate community and has been warned by police to stay away from the area, according to the school district.
On Friday, the school district was notified by the Bethlehem Police Department of their incident and Superintendent Michael Tebbano issued a letter to parents, which can also be found on the school’s Web site.
There have been numerous reports of attempted abductions of walking school children in past months in the Capital District. Tebbano said that there have been unsubstantiated reports in other areas of the district this year, and the district has been asking teachers to reiterate safety information to students and is asking parents to do the same.
“We work closely with the police department to investigate these, we take every one of these seriously,” he said.
Students are advised to walk in groups, against traffic and to run away if approached by a stronger. Parents should advise their children of safe places they can run to on the route to school.
“We think this is the standard protocol we want people to be able to address with their children,” said Tebbano.
A Bethlehem police representative was not immediately available for comment.
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