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Coincidence or Stalker? HELP!

July 22, 2009 By Contributor

I’ve had run-ins with truckers on the interstate here in Ohio before, with them honking their horns and smiling. I just blow it off, it’s not a big deal.

But on my way to work one morning, I was driving down the interstate minding my own business and a man comes up in his SUV and is in the right lane while I’m in the left lane. I always look at the person who is driving next to me, it’s a habit. Who doesn’t? Anyway, he began waving, smiling and starting to flirt with me. I sped up and got off the interstate, that’s when I read his license plate (which is very easy to remember) and he waved “goodbye” while I exited the highway. I thought it was a weird experience, but forgot about it and went on.

Just today, I was headed the opposite way from my work to my boyfriend’s house, driving the speed limit, passing slow drivers if i had too, then all of a sudden I look over and see a man looking at me. I didn’t think much of it, sped up and continued down the interstate. Then the car gets behind me. I look up and see a man waving at me in my rear view mirror. I had my sunglasses on so he couldn’t have seen me looking. Anyways… he was getting into the left lane and was trying to be side by side me to get my attention, I didn’t look until the backside of his car was in front of me. I looked at the license plate and realized it is the same exact guy from a couple of weeks ago!

He began trying to get in front of me, beside me, behind me and on the other side and I just kept speeding up or slowing down and changing lanes as much as possible to avoid him. Finally he stayed behind me for at least 1 /2 mile and then he began waving at me again, pointing and flashing his lights, telling me to get off at the exit he was getting off at!

I could not believe what I was seeing. I watched the guy until he got off the highway and called my boyfriend. He doesn’t think much about it, but my parents do. If I see the man again I’m afraid he will follow me or worse, so the police will receive a call. Tonight I put a knife under my bed just in case!

If you have any advice, please say so! thanks!!!

-anonymous

Location: Ohio

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Filed Under: Stories Tagged With: car stalker, ohio, sexual harassment, Stories, street harassment

Comments

  1. Golden Silence says

    July 22, 2009 at 10:28 am

    Please call the police. You have his license plate number, he made you feel uncomfortable—please call the police.

  2. Beckie Weinheimer says

    July 23, 2009 at 10:19 am

    I agree with Golden Silence. Call the police, then they will have this report on record, and then if he follows you again on the highway you can call (if you have a cell phone) and report that he’s following you right at this moment.

    Then you don’t have to worry, so much! This is horrible!

  3. Alan says

    July 25, 2009 at 8:39 am

    I agree with all that has been said. In the future if something like this happens, I would slow down and stay behind the person rather than trying to get ahead of them. It is a lot easier to get away from someone by being behind them that it is if you’re in front of them.

    So sorry this has happened! Sending bad vibes to this bad guy.

  4. anonymous says

    July 27, 2009 at 6:08 am

    I posted my own story on this forum recently and there are similarities I can see in what’s happening to you.

    1. It’s not a coincidence that you should have this behaviour towards you more than once – what are the chances of even noticing someone twice on the freeway? Remote.

    2. He has something about his vehicle that shows you he thinks he’s something ‘special’ – in his case an easy to remember license plate. The guy who was harassing me used it as an excuse that he wouldn’t possibly do such a thing in a distinctive vehicle – it would just be stupid wouldn’t it?

    I would say to you that you need to do like I did and report him to the police if it happens again. This is happening while you are driving and it’s putting you in an perilous position – what if you had a crash while he was distracting you? What if he had a crash and hurt someone else while he was trying to distract you? That’s two good reasons why the police would want to talk with him and stop this behaviour. You DON’T need to live with this, go with your instincts and call the police immediately if it happens again.

  5. anonymouslyAfraid says

    October 1, 2009 at 1:22 am

    im kinda going thru the samething, well, a tad bit, i moved to another state starting fresh. a few months later i had met this guy, i dont easily trust people but something about him made me trust him. i was dating him for a little while but one night i was at a family members house and she had her boyfriend there. well, he got jealous and got very violent verbally. he threatened me. so i didnt see him the same. i told him im cutting him off and that i no longer want to see him. well since then he has proven to me that the things i confided in him during the time i was dating him, he had recorded. and honestly NOW i see hes a dangerous man and he CAN hurt my family as well as me and because of that i am afraid to go to authorities. i am afraid that he will find out i reported him and because of the things i confided in him with, he can have me lose my job, home and even my family. i regret even knowing but its too late for that. i wanted to know if there is anyway that i can report him anonymously, meaning he wouldnt know i reported him but if hes near me or my family or even if i see him near my job that i can call the cops without him knowinfg it was me who called but since they have the report they can see that he is just harassing me and making me live in fear. i cant move from where i live at now and i worked hard for everything i have. hes on parole but i know if he finds out im calling the cops that he will come after my me and my family. ive read everything that has been posted here and although they are good advice i am afraid that these things can make things worse for me.

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SSH will not publish any comment that is offensive or hateful and does not add to a thoughtful discussion of street harassment. Racism, homophobia, transphobia, disabalism, classism, and sexism will not be tolerated. Disclaimer: SSH may use any stories submitted to the blog in future scholarly publications on street harassment.
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