Suspicious Activity

You are about to leave the facility where you workout when you notice someone watching you.  You proceed to your car in the parking lot. 

1) You take a look around to see if anyone is hanging out.  People should not be hanging out in parking lots.

2) You get in and immediately lock your doors.

3) You start your car, put on your seatbelt and drive away.

That’s when you notice the person you saw watching you is now in a car, and appears to be following you. 

What do you do now?

Maybe they just happen to be heading in the same direction you are.  You make a few turns and check your rearview mirror.  Uh oh, they are still there, a few car lengths back.  Now what?  You put on your turn signal and then cancel it.  Unfortunately, the car behind you does exactly the same thing.  Just then the traffic pattern changes and the car passes you.  You breathe a sigh of relief, but just then the car pulls to the side of the road until you pass and gets behind you once again.

Now What?

First thing you need to do is to take a deep breath and stay calm.  You need to stay in control.

Stay on well lit highly populated roads.

Do not drive to your home!

When approaching traffic lights leave plenty of room between you and the vehicle ahead of you.

Drive to the nearest police station or a fire station.

If you can’t find a police station then look for a populated area where you can stop and call the police.

If you have your cell phone, call the police immediately.

Now read about the case, recently reported in the Police Blotter of the Pioneer Press, on which we have based this article.

A resident on the 600 block of 11th Street told police Sept. 19 that she had been followed home from the McGaw YMCA in Evanston. She said she saw the man standing in line at the YMCA front desk as she was leaving. He watched her and later followed her into Wilmette, driving an early 1990s Acura Integra. She told police that when she suspected he was following her, she activated her turn signal, then canceled it; the man behind her did the same. At one point the man was forced, by traffic patterns, to pull ahead of her, but he then pulled to the side of the road to let her pass. She stayed away from her residence and drove around, making irregular turns, until she was able to lose her follower. Police advised the woman to call them on her mobile if she sees the man again, or if a similar incident occurs.

She did a great job of paying attention to her surroundings, staying calm, and not going to her home.  The only thing the police recommended was to call them while she was still being followed. 

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