"They were so brave and I'm so grateful that they did the right thing," Genna Skolnik says.
A group of children ran home after they said a strange man tried to lure one of them into his SUV.
Surveillance video captured the suspect getting out of his car and chasing one of the boys.
The children's screams alerted mother Genna Skolnik.
Skolnik took a picture of the suspect's license plate and got an image of a man who turned around and jumped into the passenger seat.
"I just thought to myself if this isn't a joke and if they have him, I need the license plate to be able to find them," Skolnik tells Inside Edition.
There were at least two men in the SUV, according to authorities. Dallas police say a second vehicle, a dark pick-up truck, may have also been involved. The two vehicles had pulled up next to each other before a white SUV backed up closer to the children.
"He said like, 'There's a football player in the back of the car, go to the back and talk to him,' and I said, 'Hell no I don't talk to strangers,' and I ran away and he got out of the car and he started chasing me,'" Skolnik's son, Jake, tells Inside Edition.
Skolnik says she is proud of her sons.
"They were so brave and I'm so grateful that they did the right thing," she says.
Earlier in the day, three miles away, a similar incident occurred. A teen hid behind a car trying to hide from a driver who she says has been following her as she walked to school.
The high school student says the man drove back and forth several times, each time going slower. The teen says the man also kept staring at her and she ended up running to a neighbor's door to ask for help.
"I could tell that she was visibly shaken and upset so I asked her what was wrong and she said this man has been following her," the neighbor tells Inside Edition. "She knew this guy was tracking her. She reached out for help when she needed it. I am just glad we could be there and give her a safe place to go."
Police do not believe the two cases are related.
Authorities advise parents to walk their kids to school or the bus stop to be safe.
Studies show a child goes missing or is abducted every 40 seconds in the United States.
