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Do IT this week: Layering
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 07:42 p.m. EDT, Jun 24, 2009
STOW: Police asked for the public's help Wednesday in determining who has been attempting to entice children in the city.
In announcing the latest event that occurred Monday at a Stow city park, Police Capt. Rick Myers said there have been six incidents since May 17. Police have not found any connection among them except that the ages of the children have been 10 to 12 years old.
''No child has been touched or grabbed,'' Myers said. ''There has been no attempted abduction.''
Just after 9 p.m. Monday, three white males approached two 11-year-old boys at Oregon Trail Skate Park on Graham Road and asked them to get in a vehicle, Myers said.
Myers said the boys ran home to tell their parents and were not harmed. The boys told authorities that the men said they would not hurt them.
Police said the men were in a black SUV whose driver was described as 16 to 18 years old. He reportedly had blond, curly hair and wore a black T-shirt and jeans. One passenger was described as a balding man in his 30s with a thin beard and mustache. The third man was described as being in his 20s with short hair, described as a semi-Mohawk.
The other five incidents, which Myers described during an afternoon press conference Wednesday, were:
• May 17 at Crestdale Park on Timberdale Drive. Two men got out of two cars and approached two boys.
• May 18 at Indian Trail Elementary on Kent Road. Two white men tried to entice two 10-year-old girls into a teal-colored pickup truck by offering candy.
• May 30 in the 3600 block of Edgewood Drive. A heavy-set man driving a purple car, possibly a Cavalier, asked a young girl if he could take her photo.
• June 2 in the 1900 block of Marhofer Avenue. A red car in beat-up condition with two suspects moved toward a girl.
The men, with dark, spiked hair, spoke to her in a language she did not understand. She ran to a neighbor's house and knocked on the door.
• June 4 at Highland Elementary on Graham Road. Three men in a dark gray, small pickup truck watched children at recess.
''While some of the incidents have minor connections, there does not appear to be an overall similar pattern of suspects, vehicles or locations,'' police said in a news release.
''Both genders are being approached and only the age range of the victims is the common thread.''
Myers said there has not been a detailed enough description to target a vehicle or individual.
''We are being very diligent about watching areas where children congregate,'' he said.
Police, including undercover officers, are in the neighborhoods, but ''it is difficult when you don't know what you are looking for,'' Myers said.
He said that while there have been no attempted abductions, what has occurred has been ''criminal child enticement — trying to get a child to go with you by means other than physical restraint and force.''
The incidents, Myers said, ''would cause any parent concern, and our concern obviously is the welfare of our children. We are taking this issue very seriously.''
Anyone with information is asked to call Stow detectives at 330-689-5734.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
STOW: Police asked for the public's help Wednesday in determining who has been attempting to entice children in the city.
In announcing the latest event that occurred Monday at a Stow city park, Police Capt. Rick Myers said there have been six incidents since May 17. Police have not found any connection among them except that the ages of the children have been 10 to 12 years old.
''No child has been touched or grabbed,'' Myers said. ''There has been no attempted abduction.''
Just after 9 p.m. Monday, three white males approached two 11-year-old boys at Oregon Trail Skate Park on Graham Road and asked them to get in a vehicle, Myers said.
Myers said the boys ran home to tell their parents and were not harmed. The boys told authorities that the men said they would not hurt them.
Police said the men were in a black SUV whose driver was described as 16 to 18 years old. He reportedly had blond, curly hair and wore a black T-shirt and jeans. One passenger was described as a balding man in his 30s with a thin beard and mustache. The third man was described as being in his 20s with short hair, described as a semi-Mohawk.
The other five incidents, which Myers described during an afternoon press conference Wednesday, were:
• May 17 at Crestdale Park on Timberdale Drive. Two men got out of two cars and approached two boys.
• May 18 at Indian Trail Elementary on Kent Road. Two white men tried to entice two 10-year-old girls into a teal-colored pickup truck by offering candy.
• May 30 in the 3600 block of Edgewood Drive. A heavy-set man driving a purple car, possibly a Cavalier, asked a young girl if he could take her photo.
• June 2 in the 1900 block of Marhofer Avenue. A red car in beat-up condition with two suspects moved toward a girl.
The men, with dark, spiked hair, spoke to her in a language she did not understand. She ran to a neighbor's house and knocked on the door.
• June 4 at Highland Elementary on Graham Road. Three men in a dark gray, small pickup truck watched children at recess.
''While some of the incidents have minor connections, there does not appear to be an overall similar pattern of suspects, vehicles or locations,'' police said in a news release.
''Both genders are being approached and only the age range of the victims is the common thread.''
Myers said there has not been a detailed enough description to target a vehicle or individual.
''We are being very diligent about watching areas where children congregate,'' he said.
Police, including undercover officers, are in the neighborhoods, but ''it is difficult when you don't know what you are looking for,'' Myers said.
He said that while there have been no attempted abductions, what has occurred has been ''criminal child enticement — trying to get a child to go with you by means other than physical restraint and force.''
The incidents, Myers said, ''would cause any parent concern, and our concern obviously is the welfare of our children. We are taking this issue very seriously.''
Anyone with information is asked to call Stow detectives at 330-689-5734.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Canton, OH
Posted 07:58 PM, 06/24/2009
Perverts are everywhere. .Even in Stow. . .
Stow, OH
Posted 08:31 PM, 06/24/2009
Parents,
Take your child (ANY Age) to your local BMV and get an Ohio ID card. This allows the police to access a digital photo of your child immediately in the event an Amber Alert is necessary. Don't forget to update their photo from time-to-time so the picture is accurate.
Stow, Oh
Posted 08:52 PM, 06/24/2009
Taking your child to BMV for a state ID is not a bad idea but if you take a digital picture of your child once a week and have the capability to e-mail it to the police, you'll always have a very recent photo which can be very helpful.
Akron, Oh
Posted 09:58 PM, 06/24/2009
WOW, crime happening in the white areas? Whats next?
Akron, Oh
Posted 11:03 PM, 06/24/2009
Were they wearing hoodies?
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 01:11 AM, 06/25/2009
I thought they were going to say "Older Caucasian Male in mid 50s driving a White Escalade"
Akron, Oh
Posted 09:33 AM, 06/25/2009
Why can't I call the Perverts what they are??
Child Hunters..
Akron, Oh
Posted 09:35 AM, 06/25/2009
all I'm askin' is..
When are WE goin' to get to Hunt the
Child Hunters..
its only fair..
Canton, oh
Posted 09:53 AM, 06/25/2009
@Sonny:
Getting ID's and fingerprints from kids as a technique for “stopping crime” is about as reactive and useless as you can get. (The extremities – fingers and toes – degrade first after a body dies. Think about it.) Identifying who the victim is after the event happens is kinda like getting camera footage of the 911 hijackers before the board the plane. It's too little, too late, and serves only to bring some closure.
If worse comes to worse, DNA samples taken from one or more parents after the incident will be enough to demonstrate a positive ID. Better to focus instead on prevention training with kids and rapid response if something happens. No need to rush into the arms of big brother and put more information into their databases unless absolutely necessary.
@Middle Man:
I know, it's kinda crazy isn't it? I think Stow needs some section 8 ghettos and welfare mammies dumped right smack in the middle of town. After the area experiences a little “dihversaytah” and the crime rates rocket up to match the dark 'hoods of Akron and Canton, well, there will be more of the same misery to go around.
Wouldn't that be grand?
Stow, Oh
Posted 11:14 AM, 06/25/2009
I have lived in Stow for 15 years. Thank God my kids are grown, but I truly fear for the children in this area. Is it any wonder our kids are overweight and inactive, when the world is too scary a place to let them play outside and roam free?
KOOKville, oh
Posted 11:30 AM, 06/25/2009
Forget your pink license plates or slapping them on the wrist. Let's catch and kill these b*stards !!
akron, oh
Posted 12:44 PM, 06/25/2009
@orcus: You're making the assumption that the child will be killed. If the molester(s) hold the kids captive and are on the move those recent pictures, etc. are excellant tools for the police to distribute nationwide.
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 02:14 PM, 06/25/2009
Middle Man - You exhibit your ignorance and racism loud and clear. Please stay out of my neighborhood.
Posted 04:13 PM, 06/25/2009
And with these good descriptions, someone know's who these scum are.
Mother, friends, brothers, someone knows...and not telling makes them just as guilty.
Posted 04:34 PM, 06/25/2009
The police should be looking at businesses in or near Stow where guys have access to different cars throughout the weeks - Repo guys, tow guys or mechanics. It seems too coincidental and clustered to be six different groups of guys - always at lunch time. I think it's a group of creepy mechanics who work in the west side of Stow or west side of Kent and they're taking their customers' cars at lunch and bugging kids.
Posted 04:34 PM, 06/25/2009
I mean the east side of Stow...
Clinton, OH
Posted 04:57 PM, 06/25/2009
Orcus is right on the money. fingerprints and DNA are used to identify a body, not prevent children from being taken. And while the Amber Alert is a good thing, less than 1% of missing children qualify for the alert.
Find a good prevention education system, like Child Shield, USA and keep tabs on the sex offenders in your area through the sheriff's office web site.
Lefty Lemmingville, Oh
Posted 08:16 AM, 06/26/2009
Well, you can rule Michael Jackson out as a suspect.
