ALTAMONT — A fifth-grade girl was alarmed waiting for the school bus Friday morning.

At about 7:35 a.m., she was standing in front of her house on Route 146, outside of the village, when a man in a small black car stopped, rolled down his window, and looked at her, according to Peter Brabant, Altamont Elementary School principal.

The man drove away and she ran into her house and told her parents, said Brabant.
When he learned of the incident about a half-hour later, he informed the district superintendent, Gregory Aidala, who said "an abundance of caution" was appropriate, said Brabant.

The Guilderland and Altamont police are both investigating the incident.
Altamont’s public safety commissioner, Anthony Salerno, said, since it happened outside the village limit, the Guilderland Police are the lead agency. "We’re trying to develop any leads," said Salerno on Monday. "We don’t have any at this point. We’re taking it very seriously," he said.
Officer Carl Duda with the Youth Services Division of the Guilderland Police said on Tuesday, "I’m not trying to put the community into a panic. There was no attempted abduction."
He said more officers are patrolling the area. "I’m putting it down as a suspicious occurrence," he said, meaning no crime was committed.
"We canvassed the neighborhood and spoke with the school-bus driver," said Duda. The police learned there was heavy traffic on Route 146 at the time of the incident and surmised that may be why the car slowed down, said Duda. Also, it was a warm morning and the driver may have rolled down his window to cool off, he said.
"There was no conversation, no gesture, no threats," said Duda.
On Friday, Brabant sent a letter home to the parents of Altamont Elementary School students, describing the incident and urging, "Please use this opportunity to review with you child your safety rules. Please make a note to remind your child that adults should never ask a child for directions or other questions. Children should never approach a strange car or truck."

Parents of kindergartners wait with their children for the school bus, Brabant said. Older children on a busy road like Route 146 generally wait in front of their homes, he said, rather than walking to clustered bus stops.

Brabant said Monday that he hadn’t received any phone calls about the incident. On Monday morning, he went by the place where the incident occurred, he said, and noticed police officers were also parked there.
"Altamont is a safe community," said Brabant. "But we all know bad things can happen anyplace. It’s a good thing to remind our children about safety rules."