Updated: Police Investigating Attempted Abduction of Student

are investigating a report of an attempted abduction and a suspicious vehicle in two separate incidents near city schools since last week.

On Tuesday of this week, a 12-year-old student at was allegedly approached by a middle-aged man driving a white car who offered the boy a ride and took off when the boy ran away, police said. The boy ran home and told his father, who called police.

The car reportedly followed the boy for a short time before the man yelled out his window offering the boy a ride.

The incident is similar to what happened last Thursday in the Arlington section of the city near Arlington Elementary School, said Cranston Police Major Robert W. Ryan.

On that occasion, the principal of the school saw a similar car circling the school around dismissal time and contacted police.

Cranston Police School Resource Officers are investigating both reported incidents and "although there is no definitive evidence to support that these incidents are related, investigators are working under the premise that they are likely linked," Ryan said.

Police have stepped up patrols around the schools, especially around dismissal time and all District Lieutenants have directed additional patrols to all schools city-wide, police said.

"Although there has only been suspicious activity reported up to this point, the Cranston Police is proceeding with an abundance of caution and treating these reports very seriously," Ryan said.  "We are also urging everyone to remain vigilant and anyone who sees any similar type activity of a suspicious nature is asked to report it to the police immediately."

Update 11:56 a.m.: An earlier version of this story inaccurately described the incident that occurred last Thursday at Arlington Elementary School. We regret the error.