HOULTON – During a visit to a local bank on Monday, a 9-year-old local boy had a frightening encounter while waiting for his mother in her car.

Now the Houlton Police Department is asking for the public’s help to shed more light on the situation.

Police Chief Butch Asselin said Tuesday that about 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Katahdin Trust Co. on North Street, the boy was sitting in the car waiting for his mother when a man came up to the vehicle.

The 9-year-old said the man made a move to get into the car, reaching in through a partially open window as if he were going to try to unlock the car door.

“The boy said that he told him, ‘If I get in, you are going with me,'” Asselin said.

The chief is not sure what made the man stop what he was doing and leave the scene.

The boy ran into the bank and told his mother what had happened after the man left.

“He was quite upset,” the chief said.

The only description police have of the man is that he had short black hair and may have been riding in an older model white sedan.

They are asking anyone who was near the bank at the time or who has additional information about the incident to contact the police department at 532-2287.