School District Issues Alert After Man Approaches 12-Year Old in Chatham

The Summit Public Schools issued an alert Friday night after a man in a black SUV drove up to a 12-year old girl walking down Lafayette Street in Chatham and asked her: "Where is your mommy?"

Chatham Superintendent Jim O'Neill said in an e-mail Saturday that the incident took place at about 3:30 p.m. Friday on Lafayette Avenue near Main Street. He said he was notified of it at about 6 p.m.

He said an individual described as white with a long, thin face and shoulder-length hair drove up to the 12-year old and asked the girl where her "mommy" was. The girl then ran over to Noah's Bagels nearby with some of her friends.

O'Neill said the man had no further contact with the girl.

"There does not appear to be a realistic threat to children," O'Neill said in the e-mail.

O'Neill stressed that police are not referring to the occurrence as an attempted abduction or as a luring incident.

He said he originally did not send out an alert to parents, saying he is concerned that if the district sends out alerts too often, people may not pay attention when the matter is truly urgent. But after Summit sent out its alert, and Summit parents began calling Chatham parents about the incident, some Chatham parents expressed concern to the district over the matter.

This incident comes just a few weeks after a Summit man was arrested in an alleged luring attempt at a Berkeley Heights elementary school. Parents in Summit were very upset the district did not notify parents of the the incident in early January.