Sheriff wants to interview suspicious driver

St. Johns County Sheriff David B. Shoar is asking Historic City News readers for their help in identifying a man who attempted to pick up a thirteen year-old boy as he was riding his bicycle eastbound on Maplewood Drive late Wednesday morning.

Public Information Officer Sergeant Charles Mulligan told our local news reporters that deputies were dispatched in response to a call from the teen’s mother who was very concerned about the suspicious incident.

Investigators have been watching the Creekside neighborhood in St. Johns where Wednesday’s incident occurred and would like to identify and interview the man who was described as a white male in his late 30’s to early 40’s with a clean cut, possibly brown, goatee — but no mustache.

He was last seen wearing a brown hat and driving a white van with tinted windows, possibly a Chevy Express, with noticeable rust by the driver’s door hinge and on the rims. The boy told investigators that the van had “a cage” behind the windows.

The boy told his mother that as he was riding his bicycle home, about 11:00 a.m., the man driving the van approached him from the opposite direction in the 300 block of
Maplewood Drive.

The driver reportedly rolled down the window and asked the teenager if he needed a ride home — the boy said “no” and quickly rode off without looking back.

The driver’s intentions are unknown and it is not clear if he has broken any laws, however, in an abundance of caution, law enforcement officials would like to locate the driver, identify and interview him in order to dispel any further suspicion.

Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to contact the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office at (904) 824-8304. You can remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a cash reward by calling CrimeStoppers of Northeast Florida at 1-888-277-TIPS (8477).

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News staff photographer