A Lee County mother is on edge tonight after investigators look into more claims of a suspicious man allegedly targeting girls in Gateway. This is at least the second time in a month that a man is accused of trying to lure girls in the area. The latest incident happened this week as a couple girls were riding their bikes near the 7-Eleven along Griffin Drive.
Just about any woman will say there's pretty much absolutely nothing attractive about catcalling. What people in the area are finding even more disturbing is a grown man using an unrefined whistle and crude words to lure girls under 18.
Four In Your Corner spoke to Kerri Toscano's year old daughter, who is a Freshman in high school, after the first incident back in March.
"He was like blowing kisses and like waving us over to his car," she said.
The freshman girl says she was with her younger sister and a friend when a bald Hispanic man driving a red car with blacked out rims with damage to his front driver side bumper.
Toscano is outraged the same stranger has tried to lure her daughters twice just feet away from their neighborhood.
“Obviously he has something wrong with him," Toscano said. "He’s a grown man and he’s lurking on little girls. He has no fear.”
The family has filed a report with the Lee County Sheriff's Office and has posted a short clip on Facebook that shows the stranger in a red sedan with black rims driving away. In less than 24 hours, the video has been shared more than 200 times and has more than four thousand views. Toscano says she hopes someone will recognize the vehicle and report it.
“It happened a second time within a month and it’s the same gentleman. No, it's not going to happen here."
Four In Your Corner reached out to the Lee County Sheriff's Office to find out the number of calls for suspicious persons or incidents received within a 2 mile radius of the neighborhood 7-Eleven along Griffin Drive. A spokesperson with the Sheriff's Office told FOX 4 the request requires crime mapping by a district analyst to get those answers which will require time and money.
“I would like to take this message and use it as their platform to get the message out," Toscano said. "Everyone thinks it’s not going to happen to them but before anything does happen let's stop this gentleman.”
