- April 24, 2024
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A 55-year-old Sarasota man was arrested on Nov. 20 when police charged in connection to stalking an underage girl at her job at a grocery store.
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at a grocery store at the 800 block of Belle Terre Parkway because of a suspicious incident. The store manager was requesting to trespass a male who had had several run-ins with a 16-year-old cashier there.
The man had, according to the arrest report, been coming in and only interacting with this cashier since Oct. 20. The cashier —who deputies said in the report seemed to be shaking during the interview — said the man asked her on a date the first time she remembers interacting with him.
Even after she said no, the man began to show up at her shift, come in and say hello to her and then stay in his car in the parking lot for hours, the report said. The girl told deputies she didn't know how he knew when she worked because her shifts were inconsistent.
The man never made any purchases after the first few interactions, the cashier and store manager said. The store manager said none of the chain’s other nearby stores recall seeing the man or his vehicle, the report said.
Based on their reports and the surveillance footage exhibiting the incidents, FCSO detectives believed the description of events qualified as stalking, according to the arrest report.
The vehicle was found at a church parking lot at the 4700 block of east Moody Boulevard in Bunnell, the report said. The man was escorted out of the church, and when deputies questioned him, he said he thought she was 18 and spoke to her “friendly.”
He told deputies that he returned after she rejected him to see if she meant it and to say hello, the report said.
The man was placed under arrest and taken to the county jail.
