Mulberry School Prowler Alert False Alarm

Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Sgt. Kerry Harris said Wednesday that the case concerning a man who approached children near in San Jose last week has been closed.

Harris said that according to San Jose police dispatch records, the parent who witnessed the suspicious activity recorded the license plate number of the dark blue van driven by the man and reported it to the authorities.

Police went to the address of the registered owner of the van, questioned him and were satisfied with his explanation, Harris said.

The case has not been independently investigated by the because it occurred in San Jose, even though the school is located in Los Gatos.

The suspicious activity was a concern to area parents when on Nov. 30, a white male in his 50s exited the van and was seen approaching young children in the Clovis Avenue-Harwood Road neighborhood, on the other side of Blossom Hill Road, near the border of Los Gatos and San Jose.  

The man was seen driving down Clovis Avenue, and stopped near the corner at Amby Drive. He approached several girls while they were playing in the leaves in front of their own house, indicating that he wanted to take their picture because they were so cute. When the man was approached by a parent, he left in a hurry, according to Mulberry School officials. 

There was reportedly a large teddy bear in the front passenger side of his van, they said.

In a message sent to all parents via email, they were notified that day, just after the incident occurred. 

The school district has began using the Alert Now notification system after

forwarded the Alert Now message as soon as she received word from the Mulberry School and Cambrian area families, she said.

She asked that all parents take a moment to talk with their children about what to do if they are approached by strangers. “Working together to create a plan of how to handle such a situation can be most helpful for everyone,” she added.

Susie Ray, parent of two boys at , said, “the Alert Now system is great because it notifies parents quickly and accurately.”

After she received the notification about the man and the van, she sat down with her boys and talked to them, reminding them just how important it is to have a plan with respect to strangers, as advised by Abbati.