Another story has emerged bringing the seriousness of stalking into the public eye.
The week, the online journal Broadly began a campaign to bring awareness to the dangers of stalking. It seems the campaign can't get here soon enough as a recently released police video shows how scary the crime of stalking can be.
Investigators in Florida set up a camera after it was reported that someone wrote on a 17-year-old girl's bedroom window:
I won't stop stalking you
The mother of the girl told reporters that after the incident, she could see marks on the window where the person has pressed their face against the glass.
She's a child, so it's, like, who would say that? There's an impression of his face on her window ... It's, like, unsettling.
It turns out is was another child. Police arrested a 17-year-old boy after he and his parents arrived to turn him in. The girls mother said about the arrest:
I'm really happy that his parents turned him in. I'm sure that's a tough thing to do (to) your own kid, but I was happy for his safety (because) I was worried and scared, and my reaction would have been visceral if I had caught him here.
The teen was charged with loitering, prowling and trespassing.
Before the arrest was made, the Sanford Police Department shared a video of the suspect of FB:
Accompanying the video, they said:
#AttemptToIdentify #Prowler
On July 8, 2018, Sanford Police Officers responded to a residence on Sandpoint Court regarding suspicious writing left on a 17 year old's bedroom window.
After waking up, the 17 year old female noticed that there was a vulgar message written on the outside of her bedroom window, and recalled hearing noises outside of her window the night before.
Sanford Police Investigators then placed surveillance cameras in the backyard of the victim's residence.
On July 13, 2018, just before 10:00 pm, surveillance cameras captured a suspect described to be a 20-25 year old male, with front braids. (See Video)
Investigators have conducted hours of surveillance and have not been able to locate the suspect.
Sanford Police are asking for the public's assistance in identifying the subject in the video below.
Anyone with information, please contact the Sanford Police Department.
They then included the following update once the suspect was in custody:
#Update
***Update**
This morning, an arrest was made in connection with this incident.
The juvenile suspect, accompanied by his parents, turned himself in at the Sanford Police Department's Public Safety Complex at approximately 7:30 am on July 24th.
The suspect will be charged with one (1) count of Loitering and Prowling and one (1) count of Criminal Trespass.
Investigators were told by the suspect's family, that they became aware of the incident after seeing it shared. Thank you for all of those who shared the information yesterday, including WESH 2 News WFTV Channel 9 News 13 News 6 WKMG / ClickOrlando and Fox 35 WOFL.
Folks found the incident disturbing:
Facebook
Facebook
Thankfully no one took this person's advice:
Facebook
We are happy that this incident ended peacefully.
H/T: Huffington Post, WFTV ABC 9
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