PASADENA – Pasadena ISD administrators put a call out to parents on Thursday, warning them about three separate incidents that happened involving students from Pasadena High School, Bobby Shaw Middle School and Southmore Intermediate.
The automated message said, "Students were approached by a male suspect with a full beard, wearing a red cap and wearing a red and gold Rockets T-shirt. Students reported the suspect was offering rides or money to ride in his gray or beige van or SUV."
Now, parents tell Channel 2 that they are taking extra measures to make sure their kids are safe, and many are no longer allowing their little ones to walk home.
“I’ll probably be picking her up every day,” said Sherisse Gonzalez, whose daughter attends Southmore Intermediate.
“I waited for her at the corner,” said Jorge Vasquez, whose daughter also attends Southmore. “Just to walk her home and make sure everything is OK.”
According to the automated message from the district, city police and ISD police have increased patrols in the area.
Vasquez said he noticed a lot more officers driving around the neighborhood after school on Thursday.
“They are patrolling," he said. “Pasadena Police are pretty good about that, they care about the kids.”
The district wants parents to remind their kids not to talk to strangers and to make sure they are walking to and from school in a group, never alone.