Police say a man approaching teenage girls asking them if they wanted to go to a party turned out to be making an innocuous gesture on behalf of a local church.
The police investigated the suspicious behavior at about 9:50 p.m. Tuesday when they received a call from an alarmed father, according to Juneau Police Department spokesman Lt. David Campbell.
Campbell says the father told police a man in a black Sedan stopped his 13-year-old daughter and her friends as they were walking home from school earlier in the day. The father reported the man offered the girls fliers to the party, but they refused the fliers and continued walking home.
Campbell said police investigated the incident and discovered that a local church had asked local college students to pass out fliers to an upcoming Christmas party to be held soon at Centennial Hall.
“When we got done looking at it, it seems to be pretty legit through this church,” Campbell said in a phone interview.
It was unclear which church was involved, so they could not be reached for comment.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (21)
Add commentStill.....
The girls did the right thing by refusing the flyers and continuing to walk. Kids should be taught that it doesn't matter whether it's a puppy, 'my friend's hurt', or church flyers (which just as easily could have been bogus) you simply don't stop to talk with strangers who pull up to you in a car along the road.
And the church, or any organization, should be smart enough not to send folks out to solicit children on the street.
Put up posters, advertize, park yourself at a mall entrance.
This is a good way to scare
This is a good way to scare children and freak out parents. Think first! Had a parent of one if these children gotten a hold of these people before JPD did, this could have been an ugly story.
Thats funny...
30 seconds on Google pulled up the flyer and the name of the church. I guess I could become a reporter!
These flyers are all over town and in the paper ads promising $20,000 of free prizes for "Juneau Fest 2012". The flyers make no mention of who is sponsoring the event, though. I attended a decade ago for a few sessions, they are good people and the events were fun and inspirational. Ultimatetly not my cup of tea.
On the other hand, given the
On the other hand, given the recent history of the churches, maybe the kids should be wary of church events...
All little boys should be wary of priests with good intentions...
This is the church and event
http://www.revival.com/the-great-awakening.2988.1.htm
Over-reactive parents
This exploded on FB yesterday. Parents were making all sort of accusations about abductors and "stranger danger" as well as bad-mouthing the police for not finding these mischievous deviants that want to give kids fliers. Grrr...
Seriously, an abductor is not going to give a victim directions on a flier to their location. Lesson learned I hope.
------
Still, not the smartest way to get the word out to kids about a church party....or is it? Thanks media!
@Copenhaver
You're accusing parents of overreacting now that all the facts are known and those facts seem relatively harmless. Not really fair. Had the black sedan contained someone a little more nefarious, we would have called those parents vigilent(and, really, we should still).
Sorry Bunch....
I have never appreciated "Christians" endless attempts to "spread the word" and I have always wondered what it is that drives them to these extremes, is it a desperate need to get others to “buy in” to their delusions so that they can continue to believe since “others” do?
Believe it or not, many people actually consider these "Christian" nut bags as big a threat to a child’s well being as any other stranger he or she might meet and quite frankly, I tend to agree and would caution parents that they should never consider such an offer either innocent or innocuous.
@KP
You had better be cautious with that sort of "incendiary" talk... you could get labeled a "hate monger" or accused of Anti Semitism.
@ copenhaver
Yeah once the kids would have gotten a flyer and given it to their parents they would have realized it was not abduction. However, If it was an abduction event.... just going near the car to retrieve the flyer would have put them in danger. Kids are taught to NOT go near cars no matter what the people in the car are saying.
You obviously do not have children.
That man was stupid. Plain
That man was stupid. Plain and simple, you do not approach children you do not know period. No way no how. This is common sense, which I know is subject to perception but still, I don't even look at children I don't know because of how somepeople twist things.
@tikitime
I have 3 daughters. 2 are still children. The kids in the article did not approach the vehicle. The college students came up to the kids and tried to hand the fliers to them.
@Alaskastu - So true. And the evidence of your last sentence is posted on fb.
@robynlynn - I not "accusing" parents of overreacting. I am stating a fact that they did. Especially when the police are accused and defamated on fb. It is not illegal (although strange).
the black sedan
something about a black sedan ....the alarm bells should of went off...
@aka
No, no, you are confusing sedan with helicopter again.
black sedan
the black - ops drone helicopter from syracuse new york?
The irony here...
Is that the truth is stranger than the fiction.
Mike
A Flyer, a piece of candy, a puppy
The girls responded correctly. Officer Campbell should have reitterated the fact that regardless of whether it was "legit" or not, children should not approach a strange vehicle or person or go near a vehicle they do not know. Fortunately this story has a good ending. Some sadly don't they end up looking for some child.
Just because they say they are "legit" doesnt mean they all are. I prefer prevention, avoid a bad situation. The girls did great. Bravo to the parents for teaching them to run and avoid going near the vehicle.
Junea...
I went to the website flyer and they spelled Juneau - Junea ---- you'd think someone would check that!!!
Amusing
The really bizarre thing
The really bizarre thing about this "festival" is that, according to the Empire article yesterday, a JPD/CCFR Chaplain played a big role in bringing this event to Juneau. I hope it wasn't Mr. Dalin's poor idea to advise these college kids to approach students and pass out fliers?
http://juneauempire.com/local/2012-11-28/police-fire-be-honored-6-day-ch...
Protect Juneau's Children
It is one thing for us adults to be "handled" by a master crowd manipulator such as Rodney Howard-Browne, the "guest" speaker at JuneauFest 2012.
It is another when the target of this emotional manipulation is children, as young as 5 years old, so mom & dad will "donate"
... it just is... well... devoid of soul.
the black sedan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96vKvwBaZQs laughing with the spirit......very funny - no pun intended.