RANCHO SANTA FE — A transient was given a ride out of the area by San Diego Sheriff’s deputies after he was seen hanging around the R. Roger Rowe School inRancho Santa Fe at about 12:45 p.m. Jan. 25.Lindy Delaney, superintendent of schools, said one of the parents called the school to tell them about a suspicious person seen on the corner of La Granada and Avenida de Acacias.
“Prior to making contact with this person, our director of Maintenance and
Operations, Jeff Pitt, notified the Rancho Santa Fe Patrol and then approached the man to find out his purpose of being in that location,” she said. “Mr. Pitt followed the individual until the patrol arrived on scene.”
The transient, a white male in his 20s, told officers he was trying to get to Mexico and took a wrong turn. He had no warrants so the sheriff’s department gave him a ride out of the area, said Matt Wellhouser, chief of the Rancho Santa Fe Patrol.
Wellhouser said it was a good decision to notify the patrol and the sheriff’s department about the man.
“Some people say, ‘I hate to bother you,’” Wellhouser said. “You are not bothering us. That is what we are here for. If it turns out to be nothing, it’s nothing, but we would like to check it out.”
He said that if the man wasn’t confronted by officers, he may have had other ideas about doing something at the school.
“It wasn’t, in this case, but with all the burglaries we’ve had lately, maybe he had done a burglary and was waiting for his ride. You never know,” he said.
“If you think it’s strange, it probably is, so give us a call,” he said.
Delaney gave special thanks to the parent who made the first call, Pitt, the patrol and the sheriff’s department for being proactive and responsive.
“Because of our secure campus policies and quick action of staff and first responders, students were safe at all times,” she said. “I feel it is important to make parents aware of incidents such as these. This is a reminder that we all need to be proactive and aware when it comes to student safety.”
