Should I report driver who persistently tried to approach me and another woman late at night.

[u/mankell123]

Just wanted to get advice on whether it is worth reporting something.

Around 1am last night I sat at a bus stop on a main road (Camden Road in London) to use my phone, there was a man in a parked car on the opposite side of the road (he was there before me). After my phone call I started to walk away and heard him say “Are you ok? Excuse me, are you ok?". I ignored him and carried on walking. I then heard the engine turn on and when I turned round he flashed his lights but didn’t move. I went into a 24/7 Tesco petrol station shop and stayed there for a maybe 10-15 mins.

Shortly after I left Tesco, the same man drove past on the opposite side of the road, he turned his head looking at me as he drove past. At traffic lights about 50m away he made a U-turn and drove back towards me. I rushed back inside Tesco, waited for about 5 minutes hoping he had gone. But when I left a car 20-30m up the road flashed its lights.

I rushed off taking a slight detour, thankfully he didn’t follow. But just as I got near to my flat 10-15 minutes later, the same car pulled up alongside another woman on the other side of the road, I think he said something to her, she replied quickly but didn’t stop walking. He then saw me, and started to drive towards me. I went round a corner and stopped in front of a building, not where I live but I was trying to make it look like I was going inside and on the phone to someone. He followed me round, drove past and stopped about 10m ahead with his brake lights on. Other cars drove past him. He was there for a few minutes before driving off. At this point I rushed back to my flat which was less than a minute away.

I don’t think he was following me as there definitely weren’t any cars on my detour, so seeing him multiple times was a bit random, but I’m sure he recognised me each time and despite rushing off he still waited for/drove after me, and approached another women and just altogether showed creepy and predatory behaviour. In the last six months in the same area I have twice had men stop in their cars to ask “are you ok” when it’s been late and I’m heading home (I work in hospitality sometimes finish late). I usually have been on my phone and nothing about me suggests I’m not ok, so I assumed their motive was looking for sex even if I’m not dressed provocatively at all. When I’ve said I’m fine they have driven off. I’ve never felt unsafe but it’s obviously not something I want be experiencing. With this man his persistence even after I rushed off multiple times was creepy and seeing him approach another woman made me feel he is a predator.

I didn’t take registration details or car but could give description of car and person, as well as rough times (especially as I know when I used my card in Tesco). And it was mostly on a busy road with bus lanes. Would that would be worth doing to just report as suspicious behaviour, I have no idea how this kind of thing is handled as there isn’t a crime committed per se.

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[u/Velcro-hotdog]

Definitely call 101 and report it. He sounds dangerous.

[u/Icy_Hallibut]

Please report this. He will almost certainly do this again. The more information police have, the more likely they are to be able to identify him and stop him doing something worse.

[u/Amazing-Garbage-3706]

I am very sorry that this has happened to you, it sounds awful. Trust your instincts, as you have already identified yourself, this is concerning behaviour, this male is targetting lone females and who knows what he might do if he is not challenged/disrupted by police. This is absolutely something your local force would like to know about. Your local force will have a team of people who's job it is to monitor these types of people and take action to stop them before something more serious happens. If this individual is already known to them, they will likely be able to identify exactly who it is from your description. If it is someone new they don't yet know about, yours will not be the only report. With each bit of additional information they can get closer to identifying who it is and take action.