Police: No Ties Between Nearby Child Luring Rumors & Mayfield Heights Incident

Rumors that a man had been trying to lure children into his car in nearby communities appear to be unfounded and unrelated to an incident reported earlier this month in Mayfield Heights.

The Local Jewish News website posted information over the weekend about a man who has been following and trying to talk to children in Cleveland Heights. The site listed Mayfield Heights and South Euclid as communities where the man has shown similar behavior this month. Cleveland Heights Police told Cleveland Heights Patch there have been no attempted abductions in that city. Mayfield Heights Police Lt. Chris Sonnhalter previously said he was not sure  whether the man from those reports was the same one Mayfield Heights Police wrote about on June 7 on Facebook, but he did not rule it out.

The Mayfield Heights Facebook post reads:

"Just to let everyone know, earlier this week MHPD received a report of a white male driving a rusted blue SUV type vehicle who waved and opened up his car door near a 10 yr old boy on Orchard Hts. Blvd. Nothing was said to the child who ran from the scene. The area was checked but we were unable to locate this vehicle. This incident with a description of the vehicle and driver were sent to other area police departments for their information."
The Local Jewish News stated that the post was based on "community back and forth" and not police reports. Cleveland Heights Police said the only report they received was regarding a white man in a silver car who made inappropriate gestures and facial expressions to a woman in the Severance  area.