Criminals are always in search of new and innovative ways to pull off the perfect heist. Throughout history, we have seen hundreds of thousands of people become victims of robbery, assault and carjacking. Now, they are using high-beams on cars as a way to disarm someone and achieve their goal. A woman from Rock Hill, South Carolina, is using social media to bring awareness about this method. The anonymous woman’s friend almost became a victim last month during an incident that took place at a Walmart parking lot.
The anonymous woman reported that her friend was sitting in her car at a Walmart parking lot when two men parked their car directly in front of her with their high beams on.
The woman who wishes to stay anonymous talked to NBC Charlotte last month.
“Someone turned on their high beams and she looked up and she can’t really see anything.” the victim’s friend who made the post told NBC Charlotte.
“And then of a sudden, she heard two men on both sides of her car, the passenger and the driver side. As she was pulling away they were still trying to get in her car they were wearing hoodies and they had the hoodie part down past their eyes. Thankfully she locked her doors. It was just too close to home and I wanted people to be aware.”
“Who knows what would’ve happened if they had gotten her car and she didn’t lock the doors?”
At the time, many people labelled the incident a hoax.
Many claimed the woman to be lying to get attention but her post quickly went viral. The woman involved in the incident chose not to call the police, afraid for her own safety, however, the Rock Hill South Carolina Police Department caught wind of the viral post and began an investigation.
The post was investigated by Rock Hill Police Department (RHPD) and although investigators couldn’t find any records of a 911 call being made around the time frame, they believe the story to be legitimate.
RHPD wrote:
“We have confirmed that the incident described above actually happened, but the victim did not want to report it to law enforcement. The individual who responded to our post – created her post as a warning to others to be careful in shopping areas not only at Christmas Time, but all year round.”
“Her co-worker was the one who had this incident happen to her. I have spoken with the posting individual by phone and we will get with Walmart and try to determine if we can identify the car. YES – there have been many Hoax’s in the past, but we made the determination to try and find out the validity of this incident early via Facebook.”
“There are comments on here today that were demeaning on a professional law enforcement Facebook page. We request that folks refrain from doing that in the future. People are all the time making assumptions without knowing all the facts. We make posts on Facebook to help gather the facts. Thanks for all help in this matter, and be careful while shopping this season.”
Facebook commenters were shocked at the idea of this crime.
RHPD’s public information officer Mark Bollinger offered a word of advice for those that find themselves in a similar situation:
“If you ever feel like you’re in an unsafe situation, don’t think you’re bothering us. That’s what we’re here for, we’re here to help.”
He advised people against sitting in their cars, especially alone, and if anything does happen, call 911 immediately so investigators can assure safety of the individual.
“Stay in your car and call us or leave that spot. If the car starts to follow you, go to the nearest police agency.”
Always be vigilant of your surroundings. Even if your car is not mobile, you are far from being safe.