stalking, push-in

Here is a "classic" case of a perpetrator using (at least) two means to get to his intended victim - stalking (following), and a push-in.

Story:
UK -- In Newcastle, police say a man stalked an 18-year-old female in the early hours of March 9 (Sunday morning).

The teenager was walking home from a night out with friends at around 2:30 a.m., and footage from closed circuit TV, shows the intended victim being followed through the city centre.

The assault happened at around 2:40 a.m. The perpetrator followed her inside her complex, grabbed and pushed into her home, before sexually assaulting her. Screaming and kicking him, the young woman forced the attacker to flee her home.

Still not convinced?

Still not convinced about the dangers of walking oblivious to your surroundings?

Story:
Tokyo police have in custody a suspected rapist who stalked women walking alone at night while using their cellphones or listening to music players, sources said.

The 28-year-old man, a South Korean student living in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, has admitted to police that he attacked several other women.

According to police, the man said he targeted women carrying plastic bags from convenience stores, thinking that they likely lived alone.

He also singled out women wearing headphones or talking or texting on their cellphones because they "tend not to notice that they are being followed," according to police.

Source

There were red flags

Oregon -- On May 24, 2004, just before allegedly kidnapping, raping and killing a 19-year-old college student, the 40-year-old suspected killer stalked and then approached two other women near Oregon State University. He then tried to lure them into his van, prosecutors say. He intended to rape and kill them, too, a Benton County District Attorney said.

The man tried to coax the women, both OSU students at the time, close to the van. But the women, who were alone, sensed trouble.

"There were red flags," the District Attorney said. "He tried to engage them with conversation and conduct that clearly establishes that he is trying to lure them into the van, but he just can't get within striking distance."

The victim was last seen about 10 a.m. May 24, 2004, cleaning lampposts in the parking lot of apartments managed by her brother-in-law near the Corvallis campus. Police and thousands of friends and strangers searched unsuccessfully for her for two weeks. Her body has not been found.

Source

See no evil ...

Denmark -- Following a second sexual assault in less than a week, Randers police are looking into the possibility of having a serial rapist at their hands.

Thursday evening around 8:30 p.m., a 25-year-old woman was violently assaulted.

The woman was out running when she was attacked. The perpetrator forced her to the ground, threatened her with a knife and attempted to tear her clothes off.

The terrified woman hit the attacker with her cellular phone. She then wrestled free and ran away from the man.

Since the method used and the description of the perpetrator in the two cases are very similar, police alleges it may be the same man responsible for both attacks.

Neither of the women saw or heard the man approaching, since they both listened to music when they were attacked, police says. They add that it is very likely that the man have been preying on this victims before striking.

Source

A hood-head

Found this at hollabacknyc blogspot (a great blog by the way!).
Stories like this really makes me ashamed to be a member of the male population. There really are some pathetic and ignorant individuals out there ...

Story:
Tonight around 10 p.m., on a train back to her apartment in Williamsburg, a hooded man seated next to my best friend, a 22 year old woman, whispered in her ear "I am going to follow you when you get up."

He did follow her, just a step behind, up the subway steps of her stop and out onto the street. With great clarity in a life-threatening moment, she stepped inside a bodega, while he stood outside, waiting for her, and was fortunate to find a couple who were willing to walk her the few steps from the market to her apartment door.

When they exited the bodega, the hooded man was still there, waiting for his (potential) victim. Unfortunately, it took the help of two people--a woman to make her feel safe, and a man to protect her-- to allow this woman to arrive home unharmed.

The most important part of this is that my friend is safe, but I feel such anger and rage that men like this, who derive such a false, disgusting sense of power from physically and sexually threatening women in public (or private), can make strong, smart, powerful women like my friend doubt their decision to live alone if they choose, to live free and independent lives, or to merely live at all. I am completely disgusted, and concerned for my friend.

Submitted by E.M.

Stalking teen

Here's a "classic" example of someone stalking, and most certainly evaluating, an intended victim, and then striking as she approaches her resident.

It is scary that many people are not aware about 1. What to do if they are being followed, and 2. The fact that perpetrators usually strikes (make up their mind to strike) at a certain time.
This is usually as the intended victim is getting to his/her destination, or close to his/her destination.

Story:
Canada -- A 28-year-old Vancouver man was in court this week in connection with an alleged sexual assault on a teen in Burquitlam.

Last Friday, a 16-year-old girl boarded SkyTrain at Lougheed Town Centre to go shopping at MetroTown, according to Coquitlam RCMP.

During the ride, she noticed a man staring at her. He got off at the MetroTown station, followed her around the Burnaby mall and continued to follow her on her way home.

At around 4:45 p.m., Coquitlam RCMP said, the man sexually assaulted the girl just steps from her home.

The teen broke free and ran inside, and her father called police and watched the suspect as he was leaving. He kept the suspect in sight until policed arrived.

The suspect is "well known to police" for similar offences, police said.

Source

Stalking

The effect of stalking/violence can be devastating.

Story:
UK -- Sam Marshall used to think of her immaculate home on a council estate in Bridlington as a safe haven that provided a loving environment for her three children. Today it feels like a prison.

Ms Marshall, 32, has become the victim of a stalker whose campaign of terror has left her afraid to step outside. Even within the confines of the property she loves, she is constantly reminded of an attack that almost killed her.

She was almost throttled on her back doorstep by a man who has been repeatedly sighted staring into the house over the back garden, and who hung a dead frog from her security light within days of the near fatal attack.

Source

Peering into the mind of a stalker

"Sex offender expert says stalking is a cycle of practicing and perfecting a technique on the streets."

Source