After Attempted Kidnapping, Solon Police Give Child Safety Tips

After word spread about last Friday's attempted abduction of a 7-year-old Solon girl on Aurora Road, parents in the Solon Early Childhood Parent Teacher Association wanted to know what they could do to protect their children.

They asked Lt. Bruce Felton to speak at their first meeting of the year about how to educate children on the topic of strangers and how they should respond in what is considered a strange situation.

Felton said the police department is following up on leads and won't stop until this man — described as a 5-foot-tall black man with a bushy mustache and wearing some sort of mask to conceal his face — is found.

It's important to teach children about scenarios that are wrong rather than telling them to run from any stranger, because there will be times when a child may need a stranger's help, Felton said.

"Teach them that an adult will never ask a child for directions or ask a child to help them find their dog," Felton said. "Adults ask other adults for help."

If your child is grabbed by someone they don't know, tell them to make a commotion and scream "This isn't my father/mother! I don't know this person," Felton said.