– Police are taking Kingwood incident serious –

Around 4 p.m. on Oct. 15, a man on a bike allegedly approached a 10-year-old boy at a bus stop in Kingwood and asked for directions. The man said he was a police officer and the child asked to see his badge – when the man could not produce one, the boy ran away and was not harmed.

“This is what we know at this time and I want to stress that police are taking this seriously,” said Karen Collier, executive director of public information for Humble ISD.

“A white male riding a bike and described as being in his 20s attempted to talk to a child at a bus stop on Trail Tree Lane. The man was wearing a maroon Texas A&M cap,” Collier said.

Collier stressed this is a good opportunity for parents to emphasize some basic safety tips with their children including:

• Walk to and from school in groups.

• If anything unusual occurs, please tell an adult immediately. Parents and teachers need to know right away what happened.

• Never talk to strangers or accept rides from them.

• Don’t panic. If you are afraid or have a problem, call a parent or a trusted adult.

• Arrange for immediate access to neighbors and to other trusted adults who could answer questions or be contacted in an emergency.

• Tour the neighborhood with your child to identify safe and dangerous circumstances and places.

On Oct. 16, the Humble ISD Police Department sent letters to all campuses in the district to inform them of the fake cop warning in Kingwood and to direct them to an on-line link regarding the alleged incident.

This case has been assigned to the Houston Police Department, Major Offenders Division. Impersonating a police officer can be a felony charge if the victim has succumbed to “authority” according to Lt. Mark Glentzer. He said, in similar incidents, they are trying to lure the kid into their car and it’s usually a pedophile situation.

Glentzer said there were a couple of boys waiting at the bus stop on Trail Tree Lane in Kingwood. They acted quickly by asking for some identification, running away and calling 911.

Glentzer said the suspect apparently had something similar to an iPod and he took the earphones from his ears and asked the boys for directions.

“The boys said, ‘What are you asking us for?’ He said, ‘It’s okay, I’m a police officer.’ The boys pointed him in the opposite direction he wanted to go and the guy rode off and they ran off and told their mothers,” said Glentzer.

Glentzer said his information indicates the suspect is described as a white male anywhere from 25-35 years of age, average build, and average height and wearing a Texas A&M T-shirt.

The boys did exactly the right thing by running away when he couldn’t produce identification, Glentzer said.

“Usually, we’re dealing with people who use a police uniform to get inside a house, like one drug dealer trying to rob another drug dealer,” he said. “We’ve had cases before when people thought there was a police impersonator and it turned out to be a homicide or robbery investigator, but it never hurts to check. Always call 911 when in doubt.”

His advice to motorists who are leery about the authenticity of a policeman trying to pull them over is to call 911 for verification and drive directly to the nearest fire or police station.

Last July, two Kingwood girls reported they were fondled by a man posing as a cop. They were approached at night in an apartment parking lot in Kingwood. The man said he was looking for stolen bikes and asked to see their IDs. They alleged the man fondled their breasts and looked down their pants with a flashlight. The girls told police the fake cop was a white man in his late 20s, around six feet tall and 200 pounds with short brown hair and a goatee. He was wearing a blue mesh cap with a police or fire insignia and was driving a two-toned Ford F-350 pickup truck.

Glentzer could neither confirm nor rule out a connection between the two incidents since the investigation is preliminary at this time.

Anyone with information or who may have seen the incident on Trail Tree Lane on Oct. 15 should contact Humble ISD Police at 281-641-7900 or 281-541-3555 after 4:30 p.m.