Police Investigate Suspicious Man at Fields

Local police have questioned a man who put a number of area sports leagues on alert this week after he talked to children at a sports practice.

“If something doesn’t feel right it may not be right. We would rather check it out and have it be nothing,” said Marlborough Police Chief Mark Leonard who spoke with the Hudson Police about the man. “Hudson was satisfied that he was not a threat to the kids that day. At this point we’ve got no reason to suspect he is doing anything."

At a practice in Hudson Monday morning, one parent snapped photos of a man and his car after he reportedly was talking to children watching the practice. One child told a parent the man had mentioned walking the dog with him, said Leonard.

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The photos quickly made their way — along with a warning — in an email to various sports organizations in Hudson and Marlborough, said Leonard who stated that local soccer, softball and baseball leagues had been circulating the information. Marlborough's Superintendent Steven Dlott called the police department after he saw the email, he said.

“He’s got nothing in his background that would ever suggest he would be an issue,” said Leonard of the Hudson resident who was reportedly out walking his dog. “If we had some information we felt needed to get out to the public based on the factual information on this guy we would get that information out to the mainstream media."

He encouraged parents to contact the police as soon as they see something that does not feel right. It is better to have police respond immediately and be able to deal with the situation than have to track down someone, he said.

“If something happens and someone feels uneasy about that they should call the police," said Leonard. “People should trust their instincts and people should trust their gut. If people see something that is not right or is suspicious ... they should call us.”

Although in this case there is nothing to indicate the man was a threat to the children at the practice, there have been cases as the sports season starts up of people who should not be at the field being there, said Leonard.

“In rare instances we have had people hanging around the field who maybe shouldn’t be,” he said. "Every once in a while we have run across people who maybe shouldn’t be hanging around a field where kids are playing sports.”

This is all the more reason for parents to be aware of what is going on around them as their children play sports, said Leonard.