Man who approached young Bedford girls 'had no ill intent,' police say

An suspicious person who approached three pre-teen girls in Bedford on Saturday has been identified as an older man who "had no ill intent," Bedford police said Tuesday night.

Investigators tracked down the man Tuesday afternoon after receiving information about his red sport utility vehicle.

The man confirmed that he approached the girls, but "he assured the investigators that he had no ill intent and he now understands the alarm to parents that his actions may have caused," a Bedford police news release said.

The initial incident happened about 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the 300 block of Eagle Court.

The three girls were playing in a driveway, police said, when an older man in a red SUV stopped in front of the residence and asked the girls, "Do you want to pet my dog?"

The man drove off, but returned a short time later and again stopped. When the mother of one of the girls stepped outside, the man saw her and drove away, police said.

The man was not connected to to another incident in Hurst, where a man last week reportedly was stopping young girls and asking them to expose themselves, police said.

Also last week, in Haltom City, an unknown man tried to take a 2-year-old boy as he stood by his father on Janrue Court. Hector

Alvarez told the Star-Telegram he had been taking out the trash and his son had come with him. At some point, Alvarez had grabbed his son's hand and was heading back inside his home when a stranger came out of nowhere and tried to snatch the boy.

The suspect released the boy and fled.

This report contains information from the Star-Telegram archives

Ryan Osborne: 817-390-7684; Twitter: @RyanOsborneFWST

This story was originally published December 5, 2017 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Man who approached young Bedford girls 'had no ill intent,' police say."