Brandon students warned to watch out for strangers

A warning is out to parents in Brandon: talk to your children about strangers.

Since the end of February there have been as many as six cases where strangers have approached children near schools.

Greg Malazdrewicz, associate superintendent of the Brandon School Division, said in one case at the end of February a man in a truck called to a young girl on the way home from school and offered her candy.

He then got out of the truck and grabbed the girl's backpack. But someone whosaw what happened, approached and the man ran off.

Malazdrewiczsaid there have been numerous other reports in the past few weeks.

"Absolutely, it's terrifying. To see a flurry of reports like this in, you know, about a month or six weeks is a significant concern because this is like a year's worth of activity in just a little over a month," Malazdrewicz said.

The cases don't appear to be linked as the descriptions of the suspectsare different.But what is similar is that they're all happening around schools.

"It's terrifying for parents [and]it's of concern for us for schools because some of the incidents, as they've been described, are at peak times around schools school opening and closing and it's very easy for somebody to sort of blend into the crowd," Malazdrewiczsaid.

The Brandon Police Service saidin light of the number of incidents, it's asking parents to educate their children about safety, who is a trustworthy adult and who is not, and what to do if someone approaches them.

Police said fortunately in each case the children recognized the danger in the situation and ran to a safe location.

One case a misunderstanding

Brandon police said Thursday afternoon thatat least one of the most recent cases turned out to bea misunderstanding.

On Wednesday, a man approached a boy who was walkingnear Meadows School and asked if he wanted a ride.

Police said through their investigation, officers determined that the man was the father of one of the child's friends.

Police said they also determined that incidents reported on Tuesday and Wednesday outside Kirkcaldy Heights School were the result of trucks "stopping and motioning to the children to cross the street."

Brandon police say they still want parents to talk to their children about safety and continue to report any suspicious activity.