Sheriff addresses social media rumors about alleged attempts involving children
By Victoria Metcalf
Social media is going wild with rumors that someone or some people are going around Quincy attempting to entice children into vehicles.
An incident did happen Sunday, Feb. 10, near Gansner Park in Quincy, according to Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood.
According to the sheriff’s official report from dispatch, a 12-year-old boy was walking home from the park when a man in a black truck stopped and offered him a ride. According to the report, the boy declined the ride and continued home where he told his mother. His mother then called the sheriff’s office to report the incident.
Hagwood said that officers located the driver of that truck, a local man, who was thoroughly interviewed. That man said he did offer the boy a ride. He stopped because it was snowing hard, Hagwood said.
Although law enforcement are satisfied that the man was telling the truth and nothing suspicious occurred or was intended, Hagwood said that the chatter posted on social media has gone viral suggesting he and his department had not thoroughly investigated the incident.
A second report of someone attempting to lure a child into a vehicle behind Safeway Monday, Feb. 11, is unfounded, according to both Hagwood and Sgt. Ian James who was on duty Tuesday, Feb. 12. Rumor had it that someone used a toy in an attempt to get a child into a vehicle. “We don’t know anything about that,” James said. If it happened, nothing was reported to the sheriff’s dispatch, he said. No one contacted law enforcement.
“The rumor mill is really incredible,” James said. “People tend to believe everyone instead of getting it from the source.”
Hagwood said that a local registered pedophile is known to sit in his vehicle in parking lots. That man was checked out, but isn’t involved in anything suspicious, Hagwood said. And it isn’t illegal for a registered sex offender to park in a public parking lot.
