Search for missing hat creates suspicion in Bloomington

Bloomington police report there’s nothing to fear from an elderly man who lost his hat.

One can hardly blame the young girl walking home from school for saying “no” when he asked her to help look for it, or her father who called the cops, or the cops for taking it seriously.

And yet, there’s a certain sadness about it now that the man has been investigated and it’s been determined that he actually was looking for a hat he lost.

The Eden Prairie Bloomington Sun Current says the man lost the hat while he was walking.

Detectives identified the unknown man, described as an elderly man who lives in the neighborhood. He told investigators that he was walking the streets earlier in the day and had lost his hat. He said that he drove the route he had walked and asked several residents, including the child walking home from her bus stop, if they had seen the hat. The man was apologetic and understood the concern he had caused, Hartley noted.

The school district responded by notifying parents and guardians of the incident, describing it as an attempted abduction. A follow-up letter was sent to the same parents and guardians by the Bloomington School District today (and posted on Facebook), referring to it as a “suspicious person” investigation.

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The hat, apparently, is still missing.

(h/t: Ryan McAdam)