West Islip Student Reports Stranger-Danger Incident While Walking Home

West Islip school officials are alerting parents about a stranger-danger incident involving a high school student and are issuing tips on what students should do in the situation of a stranger approaching them.

According to a letter posted on the district’s website Thursday a man attempted to engage a high school student as she walked home on Higbie Lane. 

The man is described as black, in his 40s and driving an olive green Pathfinder. The man repeatedly asked the student to get into his car and in response the student ran into a nearby store and the man drove off.

Superintendent Bernadette Burns offers up a list of tips and advice in the letter for both students and parents to help keep students safe from such stranger interactions. First on the list is not leaving young children unattended at bus stops and encouraging students to walk to and from school in groups and to remind students not to talk with strangers or be lured into a stranger’s car.