Scary incident

Police looking for a tall older man with a long grey beard and yellow teeth

Another child has been approached by a “creepy looking” stranger in Picton. Police are urging anxious parents to let them do their job so they can find the suspect.

Last Thursday a 12-year-old boy was building a bicycle ramp on the roadway when he was approached by a tall man with a long grey beard in Prince Edward Heights, overlooking Picton. The man never uttered a word. When the man reached for his arm, the boy yelled out for help. The man fled the scene. Although frightened, the boy was otherwise unharmed.

Neighbours and parents emerged from their homes. The OPP were called. Several went in pursuit of the man. When police dogs arrived they picked up dozens of fresh human scent—mostly the pursuers.

The man is described as an older, white male with dark tanned skin, over six feet tall with short grey hair and a bushy, chest-length black and grey beard. He had yellow teeth in poor condition. The suspect’s dirty and torn clothing consisted of a brown pullover sweatshirt with a yellow and white diamond pattern on it and dark blue jeans.

Though the incident and suspect share some similarities to a pair of incidents in August, in which children were approached at a grocery store and department store respectively—police believe the suspect on the Heights last week is not the same man.

There are distinctive features described by the 12-year-old boy that don’t match—the key being the man’s height and the presence of a long beard—that weren’t in the description of the suspect sought in August.

OPP Constable Kim Guthrie says she knows that parents are anxious but she also cautioned that social media and rumours were fuelling unfounded fears.

“We understand completely the concerns of parents,” said Constable Guthrie. “We are working to find and speak to these suspects. But until we can identify them and talk to them—we don’t know what their intentions were.”

At the grocery store in August a man approached a young girl in a car and asked if she wanted to go for a ride. At the department store later that month a man approached a young girl to ask if she was in charge of the store that day. On the Heights last week the man said nothing— merely taking the boy by the arm until the boy yelled out.

While creepy and inappropriate, Guthrie suggests that until these men are found and questioned, it is not clear that either posed a threat. But to catch them Guthrie is asking parents and well-intentioned neighbours to let the police do their jobs.

“Sometimes people think they know who it might be or suspect someone, they go looking themselves” explained Guthrie. “But what they are doing is spoiling our chances of following and catching this person through a fresh human scent. Don’t pursue. Don’t follow. Call it in. Let the dogs find him.”

In terms of child safety, Guthrie recommends that children hang out in pairs when out of their own yards. She also encourages kids to come indoors when it becomes dark.