{"id":396479,"date":"2026-09-11T02:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/396479\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T02:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T02:58:23","slug":"jso-investigating-multiple-reports-of-strangers-approaching-students-near-jacksonville-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/396479\/","title":{"rendered":"JSO investigating multiple reports of strangers approaching students near Jacksonville schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Two separate school alerts in Jacksonville are raising concerns for parents after reports of strangers approaching students and offering rides \u2014 one involving Lone Star Elementary<\/a> and another involving Oceanway Middle School.<\/a><\/p>\n

Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office says both investigations are ongoing and officials do not believe there is reason right now to think the two incidents are connected.<\/p>\n

Attorney: What investigators have to prove before charges<\/p>\n

A newly obtained JSO incident report in the Lone Star case includes details about a suspect being detained, interviewed and later taken home, and notes an officer observed the van\u2019s rear seats laid down flat.<\/p>\n

To better understand what investigators have to prove \u2014 and why charges may not have been filed at the time \u2014 News4JAX spoke with local attorney Gene Nichols of Nichols & Pina, who is not affiliated with either incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cJSO more than anything is going to be looking at intent,\u201d Nichols said.<\/p>\n

Nichols also said the luring statute does not require a child to actually get into a vehicle. But he said it does require the intent to commit a criminal act.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to actually get them there\u2026 it\u2019s the intent to do it and the attempt to get them in with the intent to do something else,\u201d Nichols said.<\/p>\n

What Lone Star Elementary families were told<\/p>\n

In a message to parents, Lone Star Elementary Principal Cheryl Quarles-Gaston wrote that an unknown individual driving a blue van \u201creportedly attempted to lure a student into their vehicle\u201d while the student was walking to school.<\/p>\n

The principal said the student got away and arrived at school safely.<\/p>\n

The school said JSO and School Police were notified and that the incident remains under investigation.<\/p>\n

What the newly obtained JSO report says<\/p>\n

News4JAX obtained a heavily redacted JSO incident report for the Lone Star case. The report lists the alleged offense as:<\/p>\n

\u201cLure or entice a child under 14 years of age\u201d\u00a0(Florida Statute\u00a0787.025(2)(a))<\/p>\n

According to the narrative in the report, a witness said they were behind the van and saw it pull to the side of the road next to the student. The report says the witness saw the student look at the van and shake their head \u201cno,\u201d which the witness found concerning. The report says the witness began taking pictures, the student ran, and the van drove away.<\/p>\n

The report says a Duval County Public Schools police sergeant later spotted the vehicle at an intersection near Lighthouse Road and Brookview Drive North, removed the driver from the vehicle and detained him.<\/p>\n

A JSO officer wrote that they looked into the van through an open window and noted that \u201cAll of the seats in the rear had been laid down flat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report says the suspect was transported to the SVU office for an interview, and later transported back to his residence \u201cwithout incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Oceanway Middle School families were told<\/p>\n

In a separate message to parents, Oceanway Middle School Principal Elizabeth Stansel wrote that an unknown individual driving a green pickup truck reportedly approached a student at a bus stop and attempted to lure the student into the vehicle by offering a ride.<\/p>\n

The principal said the student declined and that an adult at the bus stop intervened. The individual then drove away.<\/p>\n

The school said JSO and School Police were notified.<\/p>\n

What JSO is saying about the two cases<\/p>\n

News4JAX asked JSO:<\/p>\n

Whether the incidents are connected<\/p>\n

Whether the suspect questioned in the Lone Star case is connected to the Oceanway report<\/p>\n

Why the person detained in the Lone Star case was not charged<\/p>\n

Whether charges could still be filed<\/p>\n

Whether there have been arrests or persons of interest in the Oceanway case<\/p>\n

JSO responded that, as far as they know, both investigations are ongoing and they have no additional information to provide. JSO also said they do not believe there is reason to think the incidents are connected.<\/p>\n

Safety tips shared by the schools<\/p>\n

Both schools urged parents to review safety strategies with students, including:<\/p>\n

Use the buddy system and avoid walking alone when possible<\/p>\n

Do not approach strangers in vehicles<\/p>\n

Do not accept rides or go anywhere with someone you do not know<\/p>\n

If approached or followed, get to a trusted adult and try to remember details such as the vehicle description and license plate<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Two separate school alerts in Jacksonville are raising concerns for parents after reports of strangers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1040,116,118,117,1872],"class_list":["post-396479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-dcps","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jso"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}