"I have a 10-year-old little sister who walks to the bus stop up here from Willowbrook," Jessica Smith told Action News. "It's really scary knowing what happened."
Smith lives in the sprawling Willowbrook complex in Upper Chichester's Boothwyn section. On Monday morning, a man driving a tan car, possibly a Cadillac, stopped his car and spoke to a 10-year-old girl heading to school.
"The driver made some comments to the 10-year-old victim about what she was wearing and how she looked," said Upper Chichester Police Detective John Montgomery.
The girl moved away quickly and reported the incident to school officials, who contacted police. Then another 10-year-old girl from the complex reported several similar incidents involving a car and man fitting the same description.
He is said to be in his mid- to late 30s, possibly of mixed race, Hispanic or light skinned African American. That has put police and parents on alert. The schools have notified families by phone and letter.
"It's pretty scary," said resident Jessica Polkowski. "I have a young child who every now and again walks home from school. This makes me really nervous."
Late Monday night in Willowbrook, a 22-year-old woman was attacked when she was putting trash in a dumpster. She managed to fight the man off.
That suspect is described as "a man wearing a hood, possibly a white man," said Montgomery. Police are not linking that case to the morning cases because the descriptions are so different.
"It's very scary because I'm usually here by myself," said resident Gina Matijosaitis. "It's really scary, especially being a female."
For Jessica Smith, this is a double whammy.
"It's very alarming, because I come out here at 4 o'clock in the morning to go to work," she said, motioning to the Willowbrook parking lot.
Police are telling residents to call 9-1-1 if they see anything suspicious.
