UPDATE (4/6/17) |
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office has arrested Robert P. Fenk, 63, of Tampa, for attempted kidnapping.
A spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office tells ABC Action News that a photo taken by a vigilant parent of the car involved in the case helped authorities track Fenk down.
Deputies are also crediting parents with posting other sightings of the car on social media, tracking possible luring attempts, and warnings other parents of what people need to look out for.
Fenk is currently being held in the Hillsborough County jail.
ORIGINAL STORY | A group of Pasco County parents are on high alert after they say the same suspicious man has approached area students waiting at the bus stop.
An incident in mid-March reminded Jose Baluja why he always keeps a close eye on his 8-year-old daughter's bus stop at Collier Parkway and Roderick Drive in Land O' Lakes.
"I just let the "F" word loose," said Baluja. "As soon as he saw me is when he took off 100 miles per hour."
Baluja quickly snapped a picture of the car in question, a silver Cadillac that stopped in front of a group of Pine View Elementary students the morning of March 14.
Baluja tells ABC Action News he heard a man inside the car asking those children if anyone wanted a ride.
"My, my, my hairs raised, because I couldn't believe that a total stranger could pull up to an elementary bus stop and do that to children," said Baluja.
More parents in the Sable Ridge subdivision became concerned two weeks later after another student reported a similar story.
"At first it didn't startle me until she said it was a silver Cadillac," said Bridget Redman.
Redman's 16-year-old daughter said two people in the same car stopped to ask her for help, this time as she was walking home from her bus stop at Neff Court and Carroway Drive.
"He pulled up beside her, he had a woman with him, and asked if they could have some help with trying to find their little dog," said Redman.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office confirms it is investigating the vehicle sightings to determine if there is anything suspicious.
In the meantime, worried parents have posted pictures of the vehicle to social media and the Sable Ridge's HOA homepage issued a security warning about the silver Cadillac.
"I'm glad there wasn't an abduction made and I would hope that the sick, the sick individual gets, gets swift justice," said Baluja.
