Two girls have reported separate incidents of a man on a bicycle approaching them on their way to school, Evanston police said Friday.

Detectives in EPD’s Juvenile Bureau are investigating whether the two reports are related and police have increased their patrol around schools in the area, officials said.

In the first incident, police said a girl was walking to school Tuesday when a man on a bike rode up to her around 9:50 a.m. near Sherman Avenue and Madison Street — an area with three schools less than a half-mile away. The man tried to talk to her and said he wanted to take her to a movie, police said. After the girl caught up to another student walking in front of her, the man retreated on his bike into an alley, officials said.

The following day, another girl reported she was walking to school around 9:10 a.m. when a man approached her on a bike and spoke to her, police said. The girl told officials she screamed at the man to leave and ran from the area of Austin Street and Elmwood Avenue, which is a block from Oakton Elementary School, 436 Ridge Ave.

The first girl described the man who approached her as a black man in his 40s or 50s with a mustache and a missing tooth. The second girl told police the person who came up to her was a black man around 6 feet tall with black marks on his face and a gap in his teeth.

Police issued an alert and are encouraging anyone with additional information to come forward, EPD spokesman Perry Polinski said.

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