Police Step Up Patrols After Report Of Suspicious Car

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Police asked the public to share tips about a car reported to return regularly to the same residential block.

Three or four times a week for the past several months, the same white Toyota sedan has slowly driven by or parked in the 500 block of Michigan Avenue, police were told Sunday.

On several of those occasions, there was a child playing outside in the area, but no one inside the car has tried to talk to the child, according to police.

The Toyota is usually occupied by the same two people, police said. The driver was described as a bald, heavy-set Hispanic man with a "baby face." His passenger was said to have a goatee and a ponytail.

Police plan to increase patrols in the area of the sightings, which is located between Exmoor -Country Club and Green Bay Road. Officials also recommended that parents take remind their children about how to steer clear of suspicious strangers.

Anyone who spots the car or has information to share about it was asked to contact police at 847-432-7730.

"License plate numbers and photographs are helpful," according to an advisory, "but only if they can be obtained safely and without confrontation."