SDA Student Approached on Bonita Dr
April 7, 2017
A female SDA student was approached on Bonita Dr yesterday around 4:00 p.m., said Principal Bjorn Paige in an email to parents and staff.
According to Paige, “The man is described as a Hispanic male in his late thirties or early forties. He was wearing a t-shirt and red bandana. The car is described as having faded paint and a damaged front bumper.”
The man pulled to the side of the road in an older model white Toyota Camry and walked towards the student, who then ran back down to campus between the 30s and auto shops, Paige said.
The Sheriff’s Department is currently patrolling the area and will be particularly attentive as students leave campus over the next few days, Paige said.
“In the interest of safety, we encourage students to be watchful, to walk with others, and to report any suspicious activity to us and to the police,” Paige said.
According to Detective Frank Feliccia from the North Coastal Sheriff Department, the department is planning to increase patrols around campus.
Despite it being “old school,” Feliccia encouraged students to avoid talking to strangers if in similar circumstances.
Paige added that he didn’t know of any parents who had contacted SDA concerning the incident, and it did not come up in the parent-principal coffee this morning, and that similar circumstances are “sadly not unusual.”
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Heidi Welsh • Apr 8, 2017 at 9:57 am
It is not something to be written off as ‘sadly, not unusual’. It should be voiced clearly each time anything happens that it is unacceptable and that steps will truly be taken to imorove things, not lie down and take it. When I bring up safety issues about my street and my family’s (Bonita Drive), whether with others in my immediate/extended neighborhood, at SDA (my child’s school this year and next)–which I have tried to do over the nearly 20 years on Bonita, with the city or police, it is not often (with some nitable exceptions) met with a spirit of appreciation for my concerns, and the more I speak up the less seriously I feel I am taken. I would love for someone from any or all of these offices to contact me and tell me how they are working to improve safety on our street, including the appalling driving/racing and increased use of our street as a high speed corridor. I cannot be the only one watching out for my and others’ well being and our right to a safe and reasonable **residential** neighborhood –with 25 mile an hour zones & an elementary school at the corner. As this campus expands, with neighboring streets like ours bearing the brunt of the overflow, we who are impacted deserve to be taken into account. A unified *group* effort with ongoing communication and follow up would help. I could not attend the coffee on Friday, as I was ‘fighting crime’ on my street (lol) and volunteering with a school activity– but would have voiced this in person if I had been able. Please do not brush this aside. Students and residents should feel safe at all times, and not all can be chaperoned or in pairs+ 24/7. There is resentment of expending further resources or creating more of a ‘police state’ than we already have, which I understand. Yet, if we work together as a community & all agree to slow down and be more watchful, we can take back our streets and keep all of Encinitas and SDA freer and safer at the same time. Our children/ young adults, pets and each of us sharing this beautiful place will benefit.