CLERMONT, Florida—The Lake County Sheriff’s Office has stepped up patrols at bus stops around County Road 455 and 3rd Avenue in unincorporated Clermont after a 12-year-old boy said a stranger called him by name and told him to get in his SUV, according to LCSO Sgt. Jim Vachon.
The East Ridge Middle School student was walking to his bus stop around 8:30 a.m. Thursday when an older white male driving a silver SUV with tinted windows approached him.
“According to the student, the driver knew his name and instructed the student to get in his car, to which the student refused. The student stated he then called his mother and fled to a nearby home, where he waited until the bus arrived,” Vachon said in an email.
A witness confirmed the SUV was in the area and interacting with the boy and saw the boy run away, Vachon said.
The suspect is described as an older white male, with white hair and a white beard and he was wearing a black shirt. Detectives are working to identify the man and are asking anyone with information to call LCSO at 352-343-2101.
