Child dashes from danger after stranger approaches him, asks if he wants ride

An 8-year-old boy was forced to run away from danger after a man allegedly approached him and asked if he wanted a ride.

The child told Boston 25 News that he was playing street hockey in his family's driveway in Easton Monday evening around 5 p.m. when a stranger pulled in and opened his passenger-side door.

"The guy came up to me and said, 'Hey, do you want a ride?'" Quinn Grothe said.

Not knowing what the man's intentions were, Grothe said his first instinct was to run, and now police are advising families to be on guard.

The second-grader recalled how he switched gears quickly from playing street hockey to darting inside to tell his dad.

"As soon as he said his last word, I bolted to the door and he rolled up his window," Grothe said. "My legs were shaking and I was almost in tears, and I was going to scream if he came back."

Grothe's father, Aaron, said he was shocked when he heard what happened.

"I was thinking, 'What? What?' and after it clicked," the father said. "He was shaken up, the adrenaline kicked in. He was all shaky."

Aaron Grothe called Easton Police right away, and peered outside to try to get a look at the stranger who had just approached his son.

The man, driving a small red car, vanished instantly from the bottom of the driveway on Roundtable Road.

"It definitely scared him, but I'm glad what we do and teach our kids came through," the father said.

The Grothes are now left wondering who the man was and what he wanted.

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At the same time, neighbors had similar questions.

"Now it just makes you wonder, has this kid been watched? Has this family been watched? Have they been coming through the neighborhood and we just didn’t pick up on it?" Donna Wooster said.

The 8-year-old now has advice for anyone who finds themselves in a similar predicament.

"Look out if that guy comes back," Grothe said. "Do the same thing I did."

Cox Media Group