A simple Tuesday walk in the park turned terrifying for three North County women after what police are calling lewd acts committed by a stranger in a minivan.
Three women who went walking in Kit Carson Park in Escondido told police a man in a gold or grey-colored van approached them around lunchtime. He stuck his hand down his pants and reportedly asked, “Do you want some of this?”
In each case, the women quickly walked away and the man in the van kept driving.
One of the victims, who NBC 7 knows as Emily, was on the sidewalk next to the frisbee golf course, across the street from L.R. Green Elementary School. Emily said the man approached her and she kept walking in the opposite direction, but stopped only for a moment to see the same person approach another woman who was not far behind her.
Kit Carson Park is crowded almost every day, which is why visitors find the complaints, which were also posted on social media, shocking.
“Eww, who would do something disgusting like that? Obviously perverts,” parkgoer Carrissa Owens said when she heard about the investigation.
Carissa’s sister Ashley Owens said she’d know who to call if something like that happened to her.
“Get the hell outta here, I’m going to call my husband to come whoop your a—,” she said.
The sisters come to the park three times a week, but this is the first time they’ve heard of such brazen and lewd behavior.
“I would never come out here alone just because of things like what happened today,” Carissa Ownes said. “It just hits close to home and I do come here a lot so it is like an eye-opener.”
Escondido police increased patrols in the area for a while, but the man was not found.
Regular park activities weren’t interrupted, but on their next visit the Owens sisters won’t let down their guard.
“Hey, I’ll make sure I have my phone, and probably should go with a friend,” Ashley Ownes said. “That sucks we have to think about those things but that’s the reality.”