Two Kelowna 10-year-olds chased by men in separate incidents

Two young children had to run away from what appears to be two different men in separate instances over the past week.

In the first incident, at about 3:30 p.m. on March 4, a 10-year-old girl was walking home alone from school along Dougall Road South, according to an RCMP media release.

She started to run after noticing a man following her. He gave chase. The girl ran up to a 16-year-old girl asking for help.

“The teenager also noticed the man, who had stopped chasing the child, but was still loitering in the area,” RCMP Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy said in the release. “She had the presence of mind to take the girl home with her and kept her safe until her parent could come pick her up.”

They described the man as a Caucasian male in his 30s with a very pale complexion and dark hair. He was wearing camo pants, a dark jacket and a backpack and was last seen walking on Dougall Road North.

Yesterday, March 8, a 10-year-old boy was walking to school alone along Dell Road at about 8:30 a.m. when a man started running after him, RCMP said.

The boy quickly ran up the walkway stairs between Dell Road and Dougall Road South and lost the man. The boy continued running the rest of the way to school and reported the incident.

This suspect was also Caucasian, about 30 to 40 years old, medium height with brown hair and a beard or goatee. He was wearing grey jeans, a red T-shirt, a black zip-up hoody and white shoes.

“We are extremely concerned with the nature of both of these incidents, and our School Resource Officers and General Investigation Support Team are working diligently on these investigations,” Noseworthy said in the release. “We are appealing to anyone who witnessed either of these incidents, or who may have dashcam or surveillance video to come forward immediately.”

Anyone with information can call Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or by leaving a tip online at www.crimestoppers.net.

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