By Amanda Pitts
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PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Women are raising concerns in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia after a man has reportedly been aggressively following them and making his way inside apartment buildings.
One woman told Action News she was followed for 15 minutes from Northern Liberties to Fishtown. After she shared her story online, another woman reported a similar encounter with the same man.
Charlie Hudson said she was leaving a workout class Friday night around 8:30 p.m. along North 2nd Street in Northern Liberties when she noticed a man watching her.
“I noticed someone kind of looking at me funny, didn’t think much of it because he crossed the street in front of me. Then by the time I crossed the street, it seemed like he was waiting there,” Hudson said.
She said she had a bad feeling but continued walking.
“He kept looking back at me, and it just kind of kept getting weirder and weirder. Every block, he started mouthing something,” she said.
Hudson said she slowed down, and the man turned onto another street, but she soon saw him again.
“Then by the time I get to Frankford, he’s staring at me from under this construction area, and I just completely go frozen,” she said.
She said she began walking home and realized the man was following her for the entire 15-minute walk.
“I start walking home, he starts following me down Belgrade. I started running as soon as somebody came in between, and he ended up being like right over there at that corner as I was like getting into my building,” Hudson said. “I got in my door, I looked back, freaked out, ran into the elevator, called 911 immediately.”
Hudson described the encounter as terrifying.
“It felt like I was hunted. It was so scary,” she said. “I never really experienced that before, and I was just kind of frozen.”
She filed a police report and officers told her they would increase enforcement at night in the area.
“I was like, ‘Hey are you aware of everything that’s online, that there seems to be some pretty similar incidents?’ And [the officer] was like, ‘Yes, we’re working on it.’ That felt good,” Hudson said.
Hudson described the individual as a man with dark skin, standing about 5-foot-8, wearing a gray sweatshirt, a beanie, dark pants and tennis shoes.
“I just remember the beady eyes. Every time I even leave my apartment, I’m like anxious that he’s at that corner,” she said.
After Hudson posted about the encounter on Facebook, Gina Dinardo said she realized she may have seen the same man just a day later.
“I was on my way home around 3 o’clock in the morning in an Uber from Philadelphia International Airport. I was already nervous that I was alone in the Uber and everything,” Dinardo said. “I was scrolling on Facebook and I saw a post of a girl saying that she was followed home,” she said.
Dinardo, who lives in Northern Liberties, said that when she arrived home, she saw a man matching the description.
“I walked down my hallway, got to my door, was thinking, ‘Wow, this is great, I’m finally home safe, everything’s fine.’ I started putting my code into my door, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone opening my exit stairwell door,” she said.
“I turned around and just see this man standing there, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, that is the man from the post that I just read 10 minutes ago,'” Dinardo said.
She said she screamed, ran inside her apartment, and watched through the door’s eyehole as the man lingered outside for several minutes.
“I found out from other residents in my building that he actually spent the night in our building and people saw him in the lobby at 5:45 a.m. when they were on their way to work,” she said.
Dinardo said the encounter left her shaken.
“This happening just took away any feelings of safety that I had there, especially the fact that this was right outside of my door. You make it home to your door, you think you’re safe, you feel like you’re in your safe space. I feel like it’s just been extremely invaded and I’m scared. I don’t wanna be home,” she said.
Hudson said the experience has changed how she feels in her neighborhood.
“I walk down all of these streets all the time. My friend and I tried to walk around a little bit the next day, and I’m not really a fearful person, but I was like very scared every time I saw even just a man alone,” she said.
They hope sharing their stories might lead police to the suspect, and warn other women to be vigilant.
“If you get a bad energy or there’s any pit in your stomach, follow through. There’s something wrong,” Hudson added.
“As a young woman in my late 20s, it’s concerning, especially being out and about and walking by myself at night, that’s definitely something to be cautious of,” neighbor Morgan Taylor said. “When it’s in your own neighborhood, you definitely think, ‘OK, could this happen to me next? ‘”
Philadelphia police said the Special Victims Unit is investigating. They have not yet released any photos or surveillance video of a potential suspect.
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