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Philadelphia Police Investigating 6 Separate Attempted Luring Incidents Involving Children

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Philadelphia neighborhood is on edge Friday after several attempts were made by two men to lure children in Northeast Philadelphia.

Police are investigating six incidents and looking for two different suspects.

The activity took place within the same six or seven blocks.

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According to police, the first incident occurred Tuesday on the 400 block of Tomlinson Road around 3 p.m. when children told police they were approached by a Hispanic man in a black vehicle. They say the man offered them cash to get into the car and that's when they ran away. The car the suspect was driving was a black SUV with damage to the front bumper, broken headlight, tinted windows, with one black wheel and three silver wheels.

The second incident happened on Wednesday when two Watson Comly School students said they saw a masked man outside wearing dark clothing.

According to police, the third occurred Thursday around 8 a.m. on the 5300 block of Ditman Street where a student reported a man taking pictures and recording children.

Then around 8 a.m. on Friday on the 4900 block of Ditman Street, a man pulled up next to a 10-year-old girl, showed her money and asked if he could take her photo. She ran to school and told an adult what happened. The suspect in that incident is described as a Hispanic man with black hair, a beard, wearing a black shirt, driving a black car with black-tinted windows.

Ten minutes after that, around 8:10 a.m. on the 5300 block of Jackson Street, a 10-year-old girl reported an identical encounter.

The sixth incident happened on the 5300 block Gillespie Street around 8:45 a.m. Police say a man asked a 10-year-old girl to come to his car and then he started to unzip his pants. The girl ran to Lawton School and reported what happened. The suspect is described as a white man, 30 to 40 years old, with green eyes and no facial hair and bald. He was last seen wearing a black shirt, blue jeans and black boots.

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A woman rushed to the girl's assistance.

"She just kept crying. It was like she couldn't talk to me. All she was saying, 'The man in the black car, the man in the black car,'" the woman said.

In several encounters, the children reported the man to be either white or Hispanic, between 30 and 40 years of age, with a beard and a black car with tinted windows.

However, in the other incident, the girl described the man as bald without facial hair.

Anyone with information on these incidents is asked to please contact the Special Victim Unit at 215-685-3252, or call 911.

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