Police are investigating after a boy was approached by a stranger and offered a ride to school yesterday. Photo / SunLive
Police are investigating after a boy was approached by a stranger and offered a ride to school yesterday. Photo / SunLive
Police are investigating after a schoolboy was offered a ride by a woman he didn’t know in West Auckland’s Titirangi yesterday.
The incident follows an alleged attempted abduction of an 8-year-old boy near Rowandale School in Manurewa on Monday.
Police urge the community to report any information relating to both incidents, and suspicious activity at all times.
Police are investigating after a boy on his way to school in West Auckland was offered a ride by a woman he didn’t know.
The incident yesterday morning comes less than two days after the alleged attempted abduction of an 8-year-old boy by a man outside South Auckland’s Rowandale Schoolthat was thwarted in part by the intervention of two nearby parents.
Yesterday’s incident occurred as a boy walked to Kaurilands School in Titirangi, police Inspector Kelly Farrant said.
“Before 8.30am he had been walking to school on Derwent Crescent when a woman in a vehicle tried to interact with the boy.
“There were no reports of threats or violence involved.”
In a notice to parents yesterday morning, school staff wrote that a pupil had been “approached by a stranger in a car this morning on their way to school asking if he wanted a ride”.
“He did all the right things and told her no thank you, continued walking and reported it to an adult … please talk to your children about what to do in situations such as these, and report any suspicious behaviour.”
Police were investigating the incident as a “report of suspicious activity”, said Farrant, the Waitematā West area prevention manager.
Police didn’t immediately have a description of the woman or her vehicle to give media.
“We are now making inquiries to identify the woman. As part of these inquiries, we will seek to understand what exactly has occurred.”
Reports like this were “understandably unsettling”, Farrant said.
“We ask the community to continue reporting suspicious activity to us … report this to police as soon as possible by calling 111.”
Anyone with information on yesterday’s incident should call police on 105 and cite the reference number 250507/8761.
‘He’s not my father’
In the Manurewa incident, the boy was walking home by himself for the first time when he was approached about 100m north of Rowandale School on Rowandale Ave by a Polynesian man aged in his mid-50s to 60s and offered lollies.
After turning the lollies down and walking away, the boy “felt that this man had grabbed him from behind”, the 8-year-old’s uncle told 1News yesterday.
“With retaliation, he had pushed the man’s hand away and ran away.”
Other parents called out, asking the man – who was wearing a camouflage jacket and driving a white sedan with offensive words and gestures on the side panels – if he was the boy’s father.
“The man … said ‘Yes’, and then my nephew responded ‘No, he’s not my father’," the uncle told 1News.
Rowandale learning support co-ordinator Ila Fuataga, second from right waves to pupils arriving at Rowandale School two days after another pupil was the victim of an alleged attempted abduction outside the Manurewa School. Also pictured are school principal Karl Vasau, centre, and community constable Esther Tiatia, right. Photo / Cherie Howie
Police are continuing to investigate the incident, which occurred at 3.05pm on Monday, Detective Senior Sergeant Kevin Tiernan said.
“We are taking this matter seriously and our inquiries are ongoing, including working to identify the vehicle the man was driving.”
Reassurance patrols were also taking place at the start and finish of the school day, said Tiernan, of Counties Manukau Central CIB.
“We continue to ask anyone with information to contact Police on 105 using the reference number 250505/2064,” Tiernan said.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
