Igloo Park: Keep The Kids Away Or Keep 'em On A Leash

After reading this weeks N'shei Ramat Eshkol email, it seems to me that we may have a repeat offender on the loose. I repost the following quote for your perusal:

PSA from a Concerned Neighbor - There is a man who is not 100% who frequents the Igloo park, saying things like "cute, cute" whenever he sees kids. He seems harmless and I don't want to cause unnecessary concern, but I wanted to let parents know that I found him at the top of the hill, in the sewer area of the Igloo park, with two boys who were around 10 years-old. He was having an arm wrestle with one of the boys and they were playing and shmoozing with him. It could be that nothing suspicious was going on, but something about them being in a very secluded area together and the way they were playing together made me feel uncomfortable.

Beware of Collectors

I don't know why, but in my opinion too many people are not worried enough of the collectors that come to their door. The following  incident was posted in the N'shei Ramat Eshkol email on June 7:

Warning for our neighborhood: Last week, I answered the door for a tzedakah collector who looked like a young American Yeshiva bochur. When I gave him some money, he asked for a bracha for a shidduch. I gave him one, and he started saying very inappropriate things that made me feel uncomfortable and frightened. I quickly closed the door and locked it. I now do not answer the door for strangers if my husband is not home. Please be aware and be safe.

I am not shocked, though it's sad to hear that stories like this still happening. I personally do not let my wife open the door for collectors when I am not home. Even when I am home, I take extra precaution to open the door myself. There has always been crazy people making their rounds collecting in houses, and unfortunately it's not safe for a woman to open the door while being alone. 

Just because someone is dressed like a beggar doesn't nor shouldn't give the person automatic access to your open door. If you really think that the beggar is worthy of your money, don't open the door unless the door is chained shut with a small hole to pass money.

Pervert Attempts to Snatch Child Near Shmuel HaNavi

A reader "M", sent us this near-frightening story that he'd like to share with others: 

For illustration purposes only

Today my son was riding his bike near Tzomet Bar Ilan, a little past the bus stop going towards Ramat Eshkol. A tanned man with dark hair, a white t-shirt, and navy shorts with white racer stripes, approached him. 

He grabbed onto my son and says, "Let me ride your bike, cutie, to my house". My kid in all his innocence asked the man "Why?". The man eventually got cold feet, as he ended up running away to the other side of Shmuel Hanavi street, while my lucky kid rode home to safety.

No News....Is Good News

I am happy to write here, that there hasn't been any incidents to report recently. This may be due to less people reporting, or it can be a sign that the rate of incidents occurring is falling. I think it is the latter.

I don't think that this blog is directly responsible for slowing down the rate of occurrences though it is probably responsible for a small downturn. What's also important is that this site is playing a big role in bringing awareness of these issues to the community.

I pray that a site of this kind will one day be completely irrelevant and unnecessary. 

Readers Write-In/Suspicious Man On Paran

(For illustration purposes only)

(Editors note: The following was emailed to us by one of this blog's readers.)

This afternoon, I saw a man on the Paran shopping strip acting in a suspicious manner. He was dressed like he was religious, with a beard and a cap. He was hanging out near the candy store for a bit, not doing anything in particular. I felt uneasy because he was near my young child, so we went down the block to look at merchandise outside a different store. 

About 10 minutes later, he appeared in front of that store and picked up something from the floor, passed near my kid, then acted like he was browsing through their wares...not really doing much besides looking busy. He hung around there for some time, while I watched him and my kid carefully. He finally went back the way he had come. I did not see him do anything wrong, but feel that parents should be extra vigilant in busy areas such as in front of those stores.

Signed, 
Anonymous

Kids Being Targeted All Over Jerusalem

The following was reported on Kikar HaShabbat and translated by YWN: 

Residents of the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Maalot Daphna, Shmuel HaNavi, Golda Meir and Arzei HaBira (ed. note: also Ramat Eshkol) are concerned over attacks against children in those communities, Kikar Shabbat reports that a small girl in a playground (ed. note: playgrounds seem to be abusers' favorite place to work) in Arzei HaBira was targeted on Monday, 28 Sivan 5772 as she entered a closed slide. It appears the attacker, dressed in chareidi clothing, was waiting inside. M, a female resident of the community saw the girl crying her heart out explaining “At first none of us understood what was going on. A bit later she explained that she entered the slide and was attacked by a man there, a strange man.” 

Residents explain this is another attack in the community and they are more than a bit concerned. They are not sitting around waiting for miracles, and they have begun by posting announcements to increase awareness and hoping to obtain information that may lead to his apprehension. P, a resident of Maalot Daphna was a witness to such an attack a number of weeks ago. “I saw a chareidi male attacked by residents. It appears he tried to attack a child. He was spotted and they ran after him”. The perpetrator managed to flee and remains at large at this time.

Lady Harassed on Ramat HaGolan

For illustration purposes only 

I was called by a woman who related to me her story on June 6, of how she was harassed on Ramat HaGolan street, right near Mevo Di Zahav. As she was walking on Ramat HaGolan, a man driving a car, called out to her asking for directions. As she was directing him where to go, he started to say really inappropriate things to her. She ran away from the car and the car sped off before she thought to glance at the license plate. 

Woman Harassed on Paran

The following story happened to my wife. On Monday 5/28, walking on Paran near Maavar Mitla, someone that looks like an American yeshiva guy started following and harassing my wife. First, while walking towards her, he started by saying "hello" and "what's up" to her. After repeating this a couple of times, she looked around and realized that he must be talking to her.

She makes a face at him, turns around, and starts walking back to our house, while he started to make dirty and inappropriate comments. He also remarked "What you so scared about?" although it was pretty obvious why at that point. He kept on following her, she kept her pace up and didn't turn around again. She was lucky to be near our home and ended up safe.