An 8-year-old Keller boy is still shaken up after being approached by a possible predator last week.
“I do feel a little bit scared,” said Jack Mellander, “but overall I’m very good.”
Keller police said the boy was walking home from a friend’s house in the Willis Coves neighborhood around 5 p.m. Friday when a green pickup truck approached him on Charrington Drive. They said a younger man and woman, described as teenagers, offered the boy a ride. The child immediately ran home and told his parents what happened, police said.
“The guy rolled down the window asked me if I wanted a ride,” Jack said. “I said, 'No.' He reached for the door knob lever, and I ran off.”
“He ran inside the house, screaming, crying. So I’m thankful he knew what to do,” said Jack's father, Bill Mellander. "This could be a very different story right now. We could be talking about something very, very different.”
Jack said his third grade teacher at nearby Willis Lane Elementary taught him what to do.
“She said if someone asks you for a ride, and they’re in a car, always run home no matter what, know him or not,” the boy said.
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The school principal sent students home with a letter to their parents Monday, letting them know about the incident and offering tips for talking with their children about “stranger danger.”
“I think it’s suspicious,” said Capt. Brenda Slovak, with the Keller Police Department. “The 8-year-old did the right thing to run home and tell his family.”
There were three similar situations in May, all of them near Keller ISD elementary schools.
On May 21, a 10-year-old girl said a man sitting in a red pickup truck parked on Woodland Springs Drive, near the intersection with Netleaf Lane, urged her to get in the vehicle with him because her mother was in the hospital.
A similar tactic was reportedly used on May 13 near Caprock Elementary School in the attempted abduction of a boy, according to police.
There was a third reported abduction attempt on May 22, involving a 12-year-old boy playing in a park near Shiver Road and Ray White Road.
Worried parents met at Silversage Park after those incidents, and the organizer of that event is urging parents once again to talk with the children.
“It’s very scary as a parent. Our worst fear is something happening to our children,” said Keller ISD parent Olivia Rodriguez. “I can’t stress enough how much a child needs to yell, 'stranger danger.'”
Keller police do not believe Friday's incident is related to the other three, but Jack’s father isn’t so sure.
“There could very well be a predator in this community and we haven’t caught him yet,” said Bill Mellander.
Police are still looking for the green pickup, and they have increased patrols.
“I think it’s pretty shocking,” said Cindy Reichert, who lives in the neighborhood were the boy reported being approached. “Everybody needs to be on a higher alert around here.”
