Seventh Avenue Elementary School was on a soft lockdown late Friday morning while police searched for a man in the area wearing no pants, according to La Grange Police Chief Renee Strasser.
Police received several 911 calls about 11 a.m. reporting a man naked from the waist down was walking near 49th Street and 10th Avenue, Strasser said. The neighborhood is near Sedgwick Park bordered by 49th Street, just east of 10th Avenue.
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Officials at the school, several blocks away at 701 S. Seventh Avenue, were alerted, and officers from La Grange, Brookfield, Countryside and La Grange Park conducted an extensive search of the surrounding area, she said.
The man was last seen running south on East Avenue near Plainfield Road into an industrial area of Countryside, the chief said.
The man never confronted any of the witnesses and ran when he saw police, she said.
The man is described as white, thin and in his early 20s, wearing a dark jacket, hooded sweatshirt and scarf or knit mask over his face, Strasser said.
A similar incident was reported near 31st and Park Avenue in Brookfield Nov. 20, and police believe the same man is involved, Strasser said.
Strasser said police advised school personnel to keep students in the building and prevent anyone from entering. School officials said the soft lockdown was from 11:10 to 11:45 a.m.
Police continued searching the neighborhood until about noon, Strasser said.
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