Suspicious Man Nearly Lures Boy Away from Waiola Park: Police

La Grange police are investigating an Aug. 16 incident in which a child started to leave Waiola Park with a suspicious man.

The 8-year-old boy was in the playground area of the park around 5 p.m. when his mother saw a man sitting alone on the playground equipment.

Not long after she noticed the man, the mother saw her son walking with him northbound on Waiola Avenue toward 47th Street, according to La Grange police.

She yelled for her son to come home, and the suspicious man continued walking. The boy told his mother the man asked him if he wanted to go for a walk, and the man asked for his name, age, and they talked about movies.

The suspicious man is described as a white male, unknown age with a tall and husky build, police reported. He had dark blond or light brown hair, he was unshaven and he wore a red short-sleeved shirt with a white horizontal stripe near the hem line, black shorts, black socks and black shoes.

La Grange police don’t know of any other incidents involving this man, and they are working to identify him. Anyone with information should call the La Grange Police Department’s Investigations Division at (708) 579-2333.