The 19-year-old said she was walking in Wilmot Rd when she first saw the man driving slowly along the street at about 11.30am on Wednesday, June 11.
He wound down the window of his white SUV, waved and smiled at her.
“I thought, that’s a bit weird,” the teen said.
She was the only person on the street, and feeling something wasn’t right, the teen noted down the registration of the vehicle on her phone and continued walking.
About four or five minutes later, while walking in Archer St, the man again parked on the side of the road in front of where she was walking.
This time the woman said he wound down the window, opened the car door and beckoned her to come over.
She said he also pointed his phone towards her as though he was talking a photo or video of her.
At this point, the teen said she sent the notes she had taken about the car as well as some information about what was happening, to a group chat of her friends, along with the words “I might be in trouble”, before picking up her pace.
The man then drove off down Archer St, before doing a U-turn and driving past the woman on the other side of the road.
She said he then did another U-turn and stopped a third time in front of her as she walked past.
He again opened the door and beckoned her to come over.
The teen said he was smiling and cheerful towards her.
During the interactions, the teen said the man had been saying something, but she could not understand what it was and did not think it was being said in English.
The teen called her friend and told him “I’m 100 per cent being followed”.
When the man again drove off into traffic — which the teen said was quite busy — she ducked down behind a car and ran down a side street while hunched over so she couldn’t be seen.
She said she saw the SUV again drive past in Archer St while she was down the side street.
“I thought this was going to escalate,” she said.
“I was worried that next time he was going to get out of the car and grab me.
“I was quite shook up.
“All the time I thought I’d have to run or fight this guy off.”
The teen said she did not know the man and said he looked to be Indian, and had a bushy beard.
She said initially she thought he may have been lost and going to ask her for directions, but when he continued stopping her, she decided that was not what he was doing because it would not make sense to continue to stop her if she didn’t help the first time.
The whole incident occurred over about 20 minutes.
“It would have been very scary if it happened once, but he was really persistent and wouldn’t give up,” the teen said.
The teenager said she did not feel like the man had targeted her specifically, rather that she thought he would have done it to anyone walking alone at that time.
The teenager reported the incident to police that afternoon.
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