White parents with black babysitter who was reported by stranger say police visit 'scared' their kids
A white couple whose black babysitter was followed by a white woman and questioned by police said they were in disbelief about the incident.
David Parker and Dana Mango of suburban Atlanta told "Good Morning America" on Wednesday that an officer called them Sunday to verify that Corey Lewis, the family's longtime friend and babysitter, had been given permission to care for their children that day.
“We were at dinner, and I saw that Mr. Lewis had called," Mango said. "I called back and a police officer answered the phone. The police officer was trying to explain that he was there with my kids and that they were OK, but he wanted to confirm that I had given permission to Mr. Lewis to be with them."
“It truly took me several minutes to believe that it was real. I was just in a state of disbelief,” Mango said.
The saga began when Lewis was out with the family's 6- and 10-year-old children on Sunday, and an unidentified white woman approached them in a Walmart parking lot.
"She pulled up to my vehicle and asked if the kids were all right," said Lewis, who joined Parker and Mango toward the end of the "GMA" interview. "I responded with, 'Why wouldn't they be?'"
"She then said, 'Things look weird,' and then she drove off," Lewis said. After he left, he said he realized that she was following them.
After Lewis and the children arrived home, a police officer came in response to the woman's call to 911. That was when the officer called Parker and Mango.
“The officer was actually apologetic," Mango told "GMA". "I think he was embarrassed. He saw what was happening pretty quickly, and after he spoke to me and confirmed that everything was all right, he let them go.”
The mother said her children, Addison and Nicholas, were frightened for Lewis when the officer questioned him.
“They said they were scared that they would say the wrong thing and cause him to get arrested,” Mango said, adding that her children love Lewis like a member of the family.
“After this ordeal on Sunday night the first thing the kids asked was, ‘When can he come babysit us again,'" Mango said.
She said Lewis has for two years picked up her son from school every day and babysat until the parents are off work. Lewis "had to go to a wedding for a week, and every day Nicholas asked when he was coming back," Mango said.
ABC News' Shaun Francis contributed to this report.
