A man allegedly tried to lure a child into a blue van near Lone Star Elementary School in Mandarin on Sept. 4. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is investigating, according to a JSO incident report obtained by News4Jax.

The suspect was detained, interviewed at JSO's Special Victims Unit office and released. No arrests have been made.

JSO classified the alleged offense under Florida Statute 787.025(2)(a), which makes it a third-degree felony to lure or entice a child under 14 without parental consent.

A Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) police sergeant spotted the blue van at the intersection of Lighthouse Road and Brookview Drive North and removed the driver. Officers noted all rear seats had been laid flat, News4Jax reported. Two cell phones sat on the passenger seat, one playing a video on a loop in a foreign language.

Investigators seized the phones, the driver's wallet and the vehicle, First Coast News reported. The child was taken to the Child Protection Team for a separate interview.

Witness Jasmine Fisher told News4Jax she saw the van inching close to a girl walking near the school around 8:25 a.m. The girl shook her head no several times. Fisher said she pulled her car in front of the van and slowed nearly to a stop, giving the girl time to reach the school line.

Fisher said she later saw the van pass the school again and took photographs.

"I figured like something was wrong," Fisher said.

Lone Star Elementary Principal Cheryl Quarles-Gaston sent a message to families confirming the student escaped safely and arrived at school unharmed.

Second suspicious incident reported near Oceanway Middle

JSO is also investigating a separate, unconnected incident near Oceanway Middle School in North Jacksonville. On Sept. 9, a man in a green pickup truck approached a student at a bus stop near New Berlin Road and Hudson Grove Road and offered a ride, according to internal DCPS emails obtained by Action News Jax.

The student declined. Her father yelled at the man to leave, and the man drove off. Officers found no evidence of a criminal offense, though JSO called the man's actions suspicious.

Florida law doesn't require child enter vehicle

Gene Nichols, an attorney with Nichols & Pina who is not affiliated with either case, told News4Jax that Florida's luring statute does not require a child to enter the vehicle. Prosecutors must prove intent to commit a criminal act.

"You don't have to actually get them there . . . it's the intent to do it and the attempt to get them in with the intent to do something else," Nichols said.

JSO said both investigations remain open and declined to provide additional details. As of the most recent JSO response to media inquiries on Sept. 11, no arrests or charges had been announced in either case.

Both schools urged parents to review safety strategies with students, including using the buddy system, not accepting rides from strangers and trying to remember vehicle descriptions if approached.