Two incidents cause Wheeling police to warn students
Wheeling police are warning parents and students to be careful when walking home from school and through area parks after two suspicious incidents they believe are related in the past few weeks.
A girl was walking home from Holmes Middle School about 3:30 p.m. Sept. 1 when a man started following her as she crossed through Heritage Park, 222 S. Wolf Road.
According to the police report, the suspect is a Hispanic man between 20-25 years old and 5’6’’ to 5’8’’ tall. He is described as having short dark hair, a clean-shaven face and a thin build.
Police said he asked the girl, in Spanish, if she would take pictures of him and his girlfriend, who was not with him.
The man asked her to follow him to a shaded area off the bike path and take pictures.
The girl refused and took out her iPod, pretending it was a phone and that she was going to make a call. After that the man stopped following her and sat down on a park bench.
Police said another incident occurred Aug. 22 as a woman was walking her dog near Highland Avenue and Wille Avenue at about 7:45 a.m. She told police that man crossed the street near the woman and exposed himself to her.
Police believe the two incidents are related. They do not have a suspect in custody.
Wheeling police have posted fliers at area schools and are urging parents to talk to their children about walking to and from school safely.
“Know where the children are at all times, know what route they take to and from school and if they ever feel afraid or uncomfortable, get away as fast as possible,” said Deputy Chief John Teevans, spokesman for the department.
“Make sure they can be assertive. It’s OK to say no to an adult and get away if they feel the situation is dangerous.”
Teevans said the department has put extra patrols around schools and parks, and it has undercover officers working on the case.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Wheeling Police Department at (847) 459-2632, or the Investigations Unit at (847) 459-2690.