The disturbing encounter unfolded outside a Co-op supermarket as the youngster was picking up groceries – with police still trying to track down the man involved
A mum has described the heart-stopping moment her 11-year-old son was left visibly shaken after a man approached him near a Co-op and chillingly said: “Get in the van, I will take you home.” The disturbing encounter unfolded on Sunday afternoon near the Co-op in Rossett, Wrexham, sparking a police investigation to track down the man involved.
The mum, preferring to remain anonymous, said her son was picking up groceries from the supermarket and was about to get his bicycle from the bike rack between the Co-op and the pharmacy, where he noticed a black van. She said: “A man wound down the window and said, get in the van, I will take you home.”
She added: “I have told my son never to speak to strangers, so my son didn’t speak to the man and started to cycle away along the path.”
“However when he looked behind him, he could see the van was following him. He was near to Darland School, so he cycled down an alleyway that the van couldn’t get down.
“At that point he lost the van. When he came in he was really shocked by the incident. But he was so brave and did what I told him to do and not speak to the man.
“This has really scared him and he didn’t want to go out after, I’m trying to build his confidence back up again.”
The boy described the man as white, aged around 35-40, with brown, greying hair that nearly touched his shoulders, reports North Wales Live.
The woman said another alarming encounter happened at the Gresford duck pond just two days prior, on Friday. She warned: “I do think there is something going on at the moment. It is vital that people do have the conservations with children about not speaking to strangers or getting into vehicles.”
A spokesperson for North Wales Police said: “We received a call shortly before 4pm on Sunday, June 8th, to report suspicious behaviour involving a man in a black van on Chester Road, Rossett. Enquiries to identify and locate the man are ongoing.
“We would appeal for anyone who was in the area of the Co-Op store between 3-4pm, and who saw a black Ford van, or who may have footage of the area, to contact us.
“Anybody with information that could assist police enquiries should contact us via our website or by calling 101 quoting reference C084506.”