A California girl walking home had a terrifying experience when a stranger followed her through a normally safe neighborhood in broad daylight.
According to the Vacaville Police Department, the young girl was walking in a Vacaville neighborhood near Ulatis Drive and Leisure Town Road, when a man driving a dark colored Pontiac slowly drove up beside her. Sensing danger, the girl screamed and hid behind a truck.
The car pulled away but within minutes, circled back around. The girl kept her distance from the car and stayed behind the truck. When the car finally drove away, the girl ran away on foot.
“We’re very curious to know why an adult male would be attempting to contact a juvenile, and after several passes when it was clear she didn’t want to talk to him, he was persistent,” Vacaville police spokesman Matt Lydon said, according to NBC Bay Area.
As we begin spring break in Vacaville we wanted to take a moment to remind parents and youth about some simple safety tips specific to strangers in cars. Please watch out for cars that are following you, never approach strangers sitting in cars and NEVER get into a car with a stranger.Recently a young lady was walking in the residential area near Ulatis Drive and Leisure Town Road when she noticed a man in a dark colored Pontiac following her. The young lady continued to walk while ignoring the vehicle. As she quickened her pace to get away from the man, he pulled further in front of her and stopped his car in the middle of the street. The young lady became scared and hid behind a parked vehicle. The unidentified man drove away briefly, but came back in another attempt to speak to the girl. The young lady continued to use the parked vehicle as a shield and when she saw the man driving away she began running for safety.The man was described as a black male with short, dreadlock hair, approximately 20 years old.While this man’s intentions, innocent or not are unknown to us at this time, we hope someone in our community can help us identify him, or he can contact us so we can talk with him about what happened.Any information please contact Detective Brian Collins (707) 469-4735.
Posted by Vacaville Police Department on Friday, April 19, 2019
Lyon said the girl did exactly as she should in the situation, by creating a distance between herself and the unknown man.
“You can imagine as you get in close proximity to the car, anything could happen. And she distanced herself in the situation and absolutely did the right thing.”
The unknown man in the car is described as a black male in his 20s’ with short dreadlocks. Anyone with any information on the man is urged to contact Detective Brian Collins (707) 469-4735.
[Feature Photo: Vacaville PD Screenshot]
