HIGHLAND | Police are searching for a minivan driver they say has been following youngsters, the third incident reported in three weeks.

"We are looking for the vehicle or anyone who might have information," Deputy Cmdr. George Georgeff said Wednesday.

The latest incident happened about 7:45 a.m. Tuesday when a 13-year-old girl and her friend were walking along the 3300 block of Wirth Road. The mother of the teen told police a man driving an older style white Toyota minivan followed the girls, driving very slowly along Wirth.

The girls became frightened and walked up a driveway to make the driver think they were going into the house there. The driver turned around in the driveway next door and drove off.

Police said two other incidents have been reported since Sept. 21.

The driver is described as a man in his early 20s with brown hair and a beard. Witnesses said a passenger with him is described as a high school-aged boy.

At 5:26 p.m. on Oct. 2, several boys told police they were playing football in a front yard in the 8900 block of Cottage Grove Avenue when the vehicle slowly drove by and the man motioned for the boys to throw him the ball.

One of the boys told police the same man tried to get him into the minivan a week earlier.

Another boy said he had been playing at Pettit Park when the minivan drove past.

At 6:05 p.m. on Sept. 21, several youngsters were walking a dog near Cottage Grove Avenue and Lincoln Street when the minivan approached, police said. It slowed down and the man motioned for them to come over for some candy.

They became scared and went home to tell their parents, police said.

On Friday, the police sent an e-mail to all school principals advising of the incidents, Georgeff said.

The minivan's 2009 Indiana license plate may have a sequence of "6V6" as part of its number. Georgeff said the police hope that residents can help them identify the driver.