Riverside police have released a composite sketch of the man who reportedly followed a 10-year-old North Riverside girl to school last week.
The man is described as white, between 20 and 40 years old, with brownish red hair and a goatee of the same color. He was wearing a dark baseball cap with no logo on it and he was driving a full-size green van with white stripes along the sides. The van also exhibited rust along the bottom sides.
According to the police report, the girl noticed the van as she walked to school in the vicinity of 26th Street and Westover Avenue at about 8:20 a.m. on Jan. 25. The girl walked to Ames School, 86 Southcote Road in Riverside, entering through the parking lot. The van reportedly followed the girl into the parking lot. The man never attempted to make contact with the girl, police said.
After Ames Principal Colleen Lieggi sent a bulletin about the incident to parents, five Brookfield students told the principal at Hollywood School that they’d seen a van and man matching that description about three months ago.
The children said they were in the South Hollywood section of Brookfield when a green van pulled up alongside them. The driver asked for directions and then reportedly asked the children to come closer to the vehicle. The description of both the van and driver were very similar to the Jan. 25 incident.
Anyone with information is asked to call Officer Edwin Ruiz or Detective Sgt. David Krill at 447-2127, ext 284.
