Police in Dallas and Richardson are investigating after what appeared to be two attempted kidnappings were captured on doorbell cameras.
ABC News talked to the parents of two of the would-be victims.
“I heard screaming… and I could hear commotion outside,” Genna Skolnik said.
The mom heard her boys and their friends yelling outside after two vehicles pulled up near them around 2:40 p.m. on Monday.
“We get onto the sidewalk and we try to skip past, and I hear the drivers telling my friends to get into their car,” Zachary Skolnik said.
Zachary said he ran to his door screaming, “Someone is trying to kidnap us!”
The family’s doorbell camera shows someone in a white T-shirt and shorts getting out of a white SUV and running after their other son, Jonathan.
“He’s said, ‘There’s a football player in the back of the car.’ And then said, ‘Get in the back of the car.’ Then I said,’ I’m sorry. I don’t talk to strangers’ and I ran away,” Jonathan said.
Genna Skolnik ran outside and took a picture of the license plate.
Dallas Police are looking for a white Toyota Four-Runner with Texas license plate number THS 9209. There may have been a second vehicle possibly involved. That one is a dark-colored Chevy pickup truck.
Turns out, it was the second suspected kidnapping attempt reported that morning.
Richardson police said around 8:20 a.m. on Monday, a suspicious vehicle repeatedly drove up and down the same street. Security camera videos from the neighborhood show the vehicle making multiple passes and one video shows a teenage girl hiding behind a neighbor’s car. She told investigators that she thought the vehicle was following her.
Police were able to locate the driver.
“It was found that the driver was dropping off a family member at JJ Pearce High School. After reviewing the driver’s actions, detectives confirmed that no direct contact or communication with the student occurred. While the driver’s behavior is concerning, there were no criminal elements present to warrant charges,” Richardson police said in an online statement.
Still, experts are urging parents to talk to kids about safety as a new school year begins.
“Children should be very wary of strangers that are in a car approaching them. We know that the vast majority of attempted abductions and successful abductions use a vehicle. We know that the perpetrators are using the same lures, like asking for directions, looking for a lost puppy, or having candy. And so parents need to be talking to their children about identifying these risky situations and knowing how to avoid them,” said Callahan Walsh, child advocate for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.