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Suspicious Man Tries To Make Contact With Petaluma Schoolgirl

PETALUMA (BCN) - Police have issued a school alert after a suspicious man in a van attempted to make contact with a 9-year-old Petaluma girl near Grant Elementary School.

The young girl and her brother were walking near their home on a recent afternoon when they noticed a van parked across from their McNear Avenue home not far from the school, police said.

As the children entered their house, the short, gray-haired man drove the van into their driveway, exited the vehicle, and rang the doorbell, police said, all the while making eye contact with the girl.

After the girl failed to answer the door, the man, who was wearing a blue jacket and blue jeans, left in his gray older box-style van, police said.

The girl's mother told police that she was concerned with the attempted exchange because her children walk home from school and she felt they may have been in danger.

Anyone with questions about this school alert is asked to contact police at (707) 778-4372.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)

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