Palo Alto police are looking for a man who tried to carjack a vehicle that had two young children inside near the Stanford Arboretum Children’s Center on Tuesday.

Officers responded to a 5:25 p.m. report of the incident from the mother of the children, who said her caregiver was approached about an hour earlier by a man moments after she picked up the preschool age children near the center.

Police said the caregiver told them a man in his 20s or 30s stepped out in front of her vehicle as she began to pull away from the curb and demanded she give him the car with the children in it.

The frightened caregiver immediately drove away and returned home to the mother of the children.

Police describe the suspect as being between the ages of 25 and 30, with a slim build and wearing a black shirt and pants.

Police urge anyone with information about this incident to call the 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.