Our community has been experiencing a plethora of email alerts from good-intentioned neighbors about a suspicious man following kids and buses in Pittsford and surrounding towns. The Pittsford Central School District has been working closely with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office on this matter. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has debunked these “email” reports, reports that were not called into 9-1-1, and issued this statement on the subject:
“Recently an e-mail has been circulating that describes a suspicious white male wearing a white hat and sunglasses, driving a white Buick in the Pittsford/Mendon area. Additionally, the e-mail states that the individual is following school buses in the area. A concerned citizen living in the neighborhood in question contacted the Sheriff's Office. The citizen alerted deputies to the situation and provided them with a license plate number to the suspect vehicle. The investigation revealed that the vehicle described in the e-mail is registered to a resident of the same neighborhood where the suspicious vehicle had been seen. The deputy responded to the residence and interviewed the operator of the vehicle, a 51-year-old male, who daily wears a white hat and sunglasses on his way home from work. This citizen usually arrives home from work about the same time the school buses are in the neighborhood and many times is stuck traveling behind school buses as he travels through area neighborhoods. The investigation revealed that any concerns about this individual are unfounded and without merit.
Additionally, another e-mail was being circulated describing an incident in which two female students were being followed in the area of CrestView Drive in Pittsford by an individual matching the description of the individual in the previous e-mail. Witnesses to the incident were interviewed and the incident did not occur as described in the e-mail. The vehicle in this incident was a pickup truck and there was nothing found in the investigation that indicated criminal conduct by the driver.
The Sheriff's Office encourages citizens to contact 9-1-1 immediately for any type of suspicious activity.”
The safety and security of our students and staff is our first priority. We are grateful for the work the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in support of this goal. We urge residents to contact the Sheriff’s Office if they witness suspicious behavior and use email to share only first-hand information.
