01/24/10 Arrest made after incidents with Greenwich children involving man in white van

GREENWICH TIME EDITORS AND REPORTERS ARE UNAWARE THAT

WHITE VAN DRIVER WAS BUSTED IN NORWALK

Police in Norwalk, Conn., have arrested a man they said tried to lure young children into his white van.

Norwalk police arrested a man Friday after he was identified by an underage boy who told police the man tried to lure him into his van, The Hour of Norwalk reported.

Police told the newspaper an 11-year-old boy was walking home from the school bus stop when a man driving a white van pulled up and tried to entice him into the vehicle. The boy ran home and told his grandmother, who called police.

The van was located and the man was identified by the boy, police told the newspaper.

PLEASE SEE:

Man charged in attempting to pick up boys

By STEVE KOBAK

Norwalk Hour Staff Writer

A city man is being held on $1 million bond after approaching middle school students in his van on two occasions and trying to coax them into getting into his vehicle, according to police.

Adalberto Ocampo, 45, of 100 Taylor Ave., was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct and two counts of risk of injury to a minor. He is expected to appear in court on Jan. 29.

According to Lt. Paul Resnick, the 11-year-old boy was walking home from the school bus stop when a man driving a white van pulled up beside him and tried to entice him into the vehicle.

The young boy ran home, and Ocampo drove alongside the boy, all the while still trying to lure the boy into his van by saying things like: "Why won't you let me give you a ride?" through his rolled-down driver's side window, according to a police report.

The boy notified his grandmother and was able to gave them a description of the vehicle, as well as its license plate number, police said. The grandmother alerted police at approximately 3:47 p.m.

Responding officers had stopped a vehicle fitting the description of the van driven by the suspect, and the boy was able to positively identify the driver, Ocampo, as the suspect, according to a police report.

Ocampo was arrested but was released on $25,000 bond.

However, the boy had also been approached by a stranger in a white van while walking home with his friend on Thursday, and police suspect that Ocampo was also responsible for that incident, according to police.

Thursday's incident had not been reported to police until Ponus Ridge Middle School Principal Linda Sumpter phoned police late Friday morning, police said.

Two of Sumpter's students had informed her that they took the 4 p.m. bus to North Taylor Avenue, and a man driving a white van had asked them if they wanted a ride home, according to police.

Interviewed by police, the boys were able to give police a description of the vehicle -- a white van -- as well as a license plate number, police said.

The license plate number was traced back to a vehicle in Canton, Conn., but the registration of the vehicle had been canceled, and the plate was no longer in use, police said.

Ocampo's license plate number was similar to the one provided to police in the incident reported by the two Ponus Ridge students, according to police.

The middle-school students were brought back to police headquarters after Ocampo's arrest and interviewed by officers from the Youth Bureau of the Norwalk Police Department.

Police gained enough information to secure a warrant for Ocampo's arrest in connection to Thursday's incident. He was taken into custody at 11:55 p.m. and had not made bond at press time.

According to Resnick, Ocampo may be a suspect in two similar incidents in Greenwich.

In both of those incidents, a man in a white van asked an underage boy for directions and then told the boy to get into the van, according to a news release from the Greenwich Police Department.

The first incident was reported on the afternoon of Jan. 12 by a 17-year-old high school student who told police he was getting off the bus on the way home from school when he was approached by the man in the van, the press release said.

A 9-year-old boy reported a similar incident on the morning of Jan. 13.

He had been waiting for the bus when the man tried to lure him into his van, according to the press release.

Both complainants described the perpetrator as a white male in his late 40s, balding with gray hair on the sides and thick eyeglasses, the press release said.

The Norwalk Police Department has contacted Greenwich investigators about Ocampo's arrest, Resnick said.

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Arrest made after incidents with Greenwich children involving man in white van - Greenwich Topix

Police in Norwalk, Conn, have arrested a man they said tried to lure young children into his white van.....

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