Men, Please Be Advised That It’s Super Creepy to Hang Out In Your Car Near Tons of Kids

Rumors about a pedophile getting busted at the University Park Pool (now the Holmes Aquatic Center if you want to get technical) last week were spreading quickly. But hold on. The only true part is that there was a man near the pool. The pedophile and busted part just aren’t true. In fact, that part about the mystery man being inside the pool gates wasn’t true either. Chief Adams responded.

In reference to the matter that occurred at the pool last Thursday; be advised that a w/m was observed by the lifeguards sitting in his car parked outside the fence of the pool. He was never inside the pool area.  They called it in as they felt it was suspicious.  Officers arrived and made contact with the individual who related that he was eating his lunch and reading the paper while parked there.  The individual is not a known pedophile or a registered pedophile and had no criminal record.  We get about two calls a year about individuals sitting in their cars watching the kids in the pool from our life guards who try to be vigilant about this matter.

But truly, it sounds kind of creepy for a guy to be sitting there eating lunch and reading the paper near loads of kids. Hey, I wonder if the cops noticed a glove? Developing.

By Merritt Patterson Aug. 16, 2010 | 11:53 am | 20 Comments | Comments RSS
20 comments to "Men, Please Be Advised That It's Super Creepy to Hang Out In Your Car Near Tons of Kids"
  1. bc @ August 16, 2010 at 12:00 pm
    Tell me this – was the car parked in shade? I’ve been known to kill time in my car before, and lunch sounds rational. And every good Texan knows that you should seek out any sliver of shade for the parking of cars this time of year. If he was baking in the sun for a better view of the pool, then my radar is up. If he’s reading the paper in a spot under a tree, I’m giving him a pass.

  2. mk @ August 16, 2010 at 12:34 pm
    Although this turns out to have been a false alarm, I gotta give credit to the life guards & pool personnel for A) noticing the guy and B) taking action since they got a weird vibe. With as much time as my child spends at the pool (and she was there the day this happened), I am very grateful for the communal “eyes” (I’m thanking you too, anonymous pool moms!) that help keep our children safe there.

  3. Dan Koller @ August 16, 2010 at 2:49 pm
    I’m a man. I’ve eaten my fair share of lunches. And I’ve been known to read the newspaper. But I would never do either of those things in a car in Dallas in the middle of a triple-digit heat wave. Bizarre.

  4. M @ August 16, 2010 at 3:27 pm
    Rule of thumb–if he’s got binoculars, call. If not, don’t.

  5. AMD @ August 16, 2010 at 3:33 pm
    Sorry, kids, I don’t find this too creepy. I have done something similar at lunch to escape a boss and staff that don’t know how to honor a closed door while I eat my lunch in my office on a busy day. Sometimes, a guy just needs some peace and quiet away from the office and a ringing phone. Must be a slow blog day if you’re making a big deal out of this one.

    I, quite frankly, am more concerned about the kids I saw on Southwestern (just blocks away from the freeway last summer) with the lemonade stand and no parent in sight. Now that is not only creepy, it’s stupid. Too bad you can’t arrest a parent for that.

  6. AD @ August 16, 2010 at 9:46 pm
    Silly paranoia. It’s becoming illegal to be a male and alone anywhere in the Park Cities. I guess I need to find a rent-a-companion if my girlfriend can’t accompany me when I eat, shop or go for a walk. Maybe that’s a service someone in the park cities could provide. Or I could just call the police and give them my daily itinerary.

  7. Sharpay @ August 17, 2010 at 1:00 am
    I don’t find this creepy. I stop at parks at times to take calls on my cell phone to avoid being a distracted driver. Maybe the guy didn’t want to drive while hungry.

  8. Adam @ August 17, 2010 at 3:00 am
    Not silly paranoia. Scary, harmful paranoia. One of the best things about the Park Cities is environment created by the namesake parks–which usually includes the sights and sounds of adults and kids playing there. But now, because this guy’s a guy, and he stopped in one place too long to enjoy that environment, he’s acting creepy?

    As far as the “bizarre”ness of eating in one’s car during a heat wave is concerned, I had a job several years ago from which I had to escape during the lunch hour each day and eat in my car in order to retain my sanity. If it was hot, I used the new-fangled “air conditioning” system. If I recall, it was built right into the dashboard, next to the radio-signal receiving device.

  9. Cc @ August 17, 2010 at 7:59 am
    Is it PC to question someone in a parked car for no reason? If it was a person of color, the city would have been sued for discrimination. I don’t see probable cause here to run a background check. My family goes to the pool all the time so I appreciate the life guards but they need to be trained better to make sure they don’t over reach.

  10. grump @ August 17, 2010 at 8:38 am
    Scenario: A man is touching boys at the park that aren’t his own.
    He is a…
    a) pedophile
    b) coach teaching tackle football fundamentals

    Jumping to conclusions is fun.

  11. vms @ August 17, 2010 at 10:01 am
    No. It’s not creepy. Not In the least. What’s creepy is the thinking that you can’t hang out at a park or in a public space where there are kids unless you, too, bring kids.

    Don’t people who are always afraid ever get tired of always being afraid? I know that reading and hearing about all the fear tires me.

  12. anon @ August 17, 2010 at 10:18 am
    Not creepy. You are really stretching hard to turn nothing into something. It very well could have been a Dad waiting to pick up the kids, who were conveniently ignoring him as he waited and waited and waited.

  13. mk @ August 17, 2010 at 11:14 am
    Just a darn minute, everyone. My kid was there that day and my husband went running with one of the life guards who had been on duty. Evidently, the guy was staring at the kids enough that it caused both staff & guests at the pool alot of concern. You may not remember, but several years ago at the UP Pool, what appeared to be a “dad” talking on his cell phone was actually a man taking pictures on his phone of all the pretty young tweens & teens there. Again, the staff & other guests raised the alarm, and guess what? He was a pervert. Quit being so judgey when people are trying to look out for your kids.

  14. HP Guru @ August 17, 2010 at 4:36 pm
    Not creepy. The guy has just as much right to sit in his car and enjoy the park as your kid has to swim in the pool at the park. If he were trying to interact with the kids, then people should be concerned, otherwise, let him enjoy the day.

  15. kit ramsey @ August 17, 2010 at 8:20 pm
    relax.
    its the bubble.
    where everyone is normal
    and the kids are all way above average.

  16. Jgo @ August 18, 2010 at 9:27 am
    Why is Mk’s husband working out with the guards? That seems just as arbitrarily creepy as some dude eating lunch in his car at the park.

  17. mk @ August 18, 2010 at 11:50 am
    Lol, Jgo…he’s in a running club with a bunch of guys who range from geezers to college students. The lifeguard is a college kid.

  18. Sharpay @ August 18, 2010 at 2:57 pm
    The takeaway is that one person’s creepy is another’s not-so-much,it is a subjective call. I don’t think anyone can be faulted for calling police when something/someone seems out of place, especially when there are children close by.

  19. X @ August 18, 2010 at 3:52 pm
    This conversation is creepin’ me out…

  20. JGO @ August 18, 2010 at 6:06 pm
    Ok…just wanted to clear it up mk ;)
    The moral is: eat your Kuby’s at the lunch counter.

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