UPDATE: Natalia PD has identified the men who were reported calling to school children at the playground fence. Staff did not recognize the men and therefore notified authorities and diligently removed the children from the playground as a precaution. Police have determined it was a parent and there is no threat.
Two separate incidents involving concerning behavior of two males in a silver van were reported at Natalia ECC school playground and at the Devine City Park this past week.
On Dec. 14 at 12:19 PM the Natalia Police report states that “a Natalia PD Officer responded to the Natalia ECC school playground area where a couple of men in a gray van were calling out to the small children, trying to get them to go towards the fence where they were.”
According to Police Chief Gilbert Rodriguez, “Two male subjects drove by and started waving to the students, and the teacher did not recognize the men so she called all the students inside the building as a precaution. A search for the van was conducted, and we were unable to locate it.”
Interestingly enough, on Dec. 10th at 4:02 PM – A caller in Devine advised Devine PD officers that there were two male subjects in a silver van at the city park in Devine (just a few days prior to the other incident). That caller stated the men appeared to be watching females work out at the park. Officer made location but was unable to locate the van.
We also spoke with the complainant who stated that the subjects in the van were sitting at the park for at least 15-20 minutes, making the mother and her two children uncomfortable. When she got out of the car and started making phone calls to her husband and to report the suspicious van, the subjects in the van left.
Officers remind everyone to please, please get a license plate number in circumstances like these if possible.
“Even if you can’t get the whole thing, even if you can just get 3 letters of the license plate, that can be a huge help. If we get a partial license plate and type of vehicle, we can do an offline search through TCIC to get a list of possible registered vehicle owners,” stated Devine PD Lieutenant Chris Andrews.