Dartmouth Police issue statement concerning alleged incident involving”creepy” older man

Dartmouth Police addressed a social media post on Friday concerning an alleged incident that took place at a local department store.

At just before 7:45 p.m. Friday, a woman took to social media to post the following.

“This was posted by someone I know with young children. Just wanted to pass it along. Especially with all the back-to-school shopping going on.

“PSA ‼️‼️ I was in the Dartmouth Target today running errands when I caught this older man looking at me from afar. I was in the side aisle near the birthday cards and he was walking towards me staring me down. I thought to myself, “ew” and turned into the aisle where the gift bags are. After about a minute, I picked out a gift bag and went to go put it in my carriage, when I looked up and saw the guy IN THE AISLE a few feet away staring at me. Instant goosebumps all over my body and my arms went numb. I stared him down and continued to stare him down until he walked away. I was sort of frazzled at this point, so I stayed in the aisle and kept looking around for a few minutes. I went to finally leave the aisle and turn the corner (towards the Ulta section) and find him standing around the corner, at the end cap, WAITING.

“I couldn’t help but blurt out “Can I help you?”

“He proceeded to tell me he was just looking around and started to walk away (or should I say lurk) slowly.

“That was when I decided I needed to say something to the Security Guard who was luckily right near the Ulta section. He noticed the guy and asked me if it was him. He told me he’s on top of it and was going to go check on him.

“I headed towards self-checkout because at this point, I just wanted to leave. As I was checking out, the Security Guard came over to me and thanked me for saying something, admitted that he’s definitely a creep, and said that he told the guard he was “looking for his daughter” (If you can’t find your CHILD, wouldn’t you contact customer service instead of following me?)

“I left the store and went to my car, which was parked near the entrance. What do you know….

“Here comes the same guy WALKING OUT and went over to the side of the building to SMOKE A CIGARETTE while scoping out the parking lot. Thought your daughter was lost somewhere inside the store?

“After a few minutes, he went BACK INSIDE THE STORE. No carriage. No items. No bags. Just going back into to make another round.
I called the Dartmouth police and met them in the parking lot. They are aware of the situation. I’m shaking. Especially after watching Sound of Freedom, this is fresh in my mind and makes me sick that this can truly happen anywhere. Don’t think it’s never going to happen to you. Be aware of your surroundings at ALL times. Listen to your intuition. Don’t be afraid to speak up and say something.

“You just never know.”

In response to the post, the Dartmouth Police issued the following statement on social media.

“We’ve received some inquiries today regarding a post that is currently making its way around social media.

“The post in question is associated with someone feeling uncomfortable about the way that a man was acting at a local retail store.

“Upon officers responding to the store, it was determined that the male in question did not commit any crime.
Please keep in mind that though we take every suspicious person call seriously, simply being suspicious in Massachusetts is not a crime.

“In addition, though we respect everyone’s First Amendment privilege, we do caution all about posting stories on the socials that are fraught with personal viewpoints and presumptions about what they think an individual was going to do, in particular those associated with abduction and human trafficking, as this does nothing more than generate potentially harmful rumors and cause unnecessary stress for others.

“Though this call amounted to nothing more than officers gathering information, we commend the reporting party for contacting us immediately, as it is much easier for us to address a particular issue as it is actively occurring.

“As always, if you do not feel comfortable about a suspicious individual in a store, parking lot, public venue, etc., please call the police immediately for assistance.”