LODI–
Neighbors in a West Lodi neighborhood around Interlaken Drive are on edge after a stranger approached an 11-year-old boy playing in his driveway on Monday evening. The bald man in his 40’s asked the boy to come to his car and then asked where his mom and dad were.
The boy ran into the house and locked the doors. Dodie Stafford saw everything from across the street.
“He wasn’t interested in seeing mom or dad or anything. He was interested in that little boy,” said Stafford.
The boy’s father P.J. Vaz said his security cameras caught the man driving by his house several times in a maroon or red two-door Honda Civic and watched him leave the house to walk his dog before approaching his son.
“He was up to no good,” said Vaz.
Vaz said the man didn’t attempt to go to the front door to ask for the parents or attempt to apologize for scaring the boy.
One mother of four who lives a few doors down the street and didn’t identify herself said she moved from Stockton because she was concerned for the safety of her kids.
“I let my 10-year-olds play outside by themselves but now I’m a little bit more apprehensive and a little more cautious about it,” said the woman.
While police are not calling it a crime, they are trying hard to identify the stranger.
“We want to find out who was in that vehicle, who that vehicle belongs to and what their intent was,” said Lt. Sierra Brucia of the Lodi Police Department.
Brucia said the boy did exactly what they tell children to do when confronted by strangers.