In the northern suburbs of Melbourne, a man is facing charges for allegedly attempting to force a woman into his vehicle.
At around 6.20 p.m. on Friday, CCTV footage showed a guy in Whittlesea attempting to force a 27-year-old lady into his car as they were walking along Forest Street.
The man chased after her in his truck after she escaped.
It was “pretty concerning” according to the neighbours who heard the woman’s screams.
Twenty minutes before this, Ally Hawking, 15, and her niece Zoe, 13, were playing on scooters on adjacent Oak Bank Boulevard when a man, purportedly the same one, came up to them and asked for directions to Kinglake.
“He was really close to us, told us to come look in the back of the car at the maps, then he opened the back door and that’s when me and Zoe left,” according to her.
A kind stranger escorted the girls to their residence.
“I was very scared and I felt very nauseous after it,” Ally asserted.
Although Ally and her cousin were unharmed, the residents of Whittlesea are now on high alert.
According to Ally’s mother, Amy Hawking, the 15-year-old had trouble sleeping afterward.
The group was “absolutely floored,” she said.
“It’s horrible the way it’s affected us when he didn’t even get them, let alone if he had gotten one of them in the car, it’s sickening,” said Amy.
At around 9 in the morning yesterday, police stopped a Mitsubishi ute on the Midland Highway in Shepparton.
This morning, authorities in Mill Park accused a 39-year-old man with attempted kidnapping, two charges of aggravated assault, and aggravated burglary.
He is need to check in with the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court tomorrow after being remanded.
