Shady Guy Outside SuperFresh

[NoLibPerson]

Heads up, neighbors. My husband and I encountered a very shady guy outside the SuperFresh. He was hanging around the stairwell and as we descended the stairs, we both decided he looked like he was up to no good and we should walk around the back through the parking lot rather than walk past him. As we made our way around, guess who popped up in front of us? Yep, and, not only did he try to cut us off at the pass, he decided to taunt us about it, too. "Hey, yoou guys went the whole way around there to avoid me?" We hung back and waited until he got some distance from us. He continued to hang at the corner near Darlings and look back at us, at which point, I called 911. He was clearly looking to mess with somebody, I don't know if he was drunk, mental, or looking to rob somebody, but he seemed to be waiting for us and we were done. I think he saw us on the phone, so he headed toward the Piazza. I never saw the police, and we took a wandering way home to make sure to avoid him.

Stay safe, and, call the police when your gut tells you somthing doesn't seem right. The only time I didn't follow my gut on that, I regretted it. In fact, I still do.

[carpetbagger]

there was a man loitering at the bottom of the stairs last week trying to engage people in conversation then ask them for change as they walked up to the market. i told one of the cashiers about it as soon as i walked in and she told security. when i left the store approx. 10 minutes later, he was gone.

[NoLibPerson]

I don't want this to turn into a Bart-bashing thread, but the design of that building is pretty much a mugger's dream. And the fact that the stupid Family Dollar has the windows all papered up does not help one iota. It's one of the dumbest designs I've ever seen.

[mythaeus]

Thanks for the heads up!

Al

[carpetbagger]

nolibperson, what time of day did your incident occur? mine was late morning, 1030am-11ish.

[boldikus]

just want to chime in to say that i believe i also was asked for change/something (had my earbuds in) as i walked from the liquor store through the parking lot passed the steps to SF and onto 2nd street by someone who seems to fit the vibe of who you all might be talking about. this was last tuesday (9/11) in the evening. didn't necessarily feel threatened by him as there were other folks around but he definitely looked homeless and quite possibly up to no good. there's also been a panhandler on 2nd near fairmount/the palm on some mornings. sad that after living in the hood for 13 years and having to almost never deal with the panhandlers, they seem to be crawling out of the woodwork now. be aware of your surroundings! (yeah i know - the earbud comment - i need to take my own advice, haha)

[Cohocksinker]

Descriptions? Shady is a broad term.

[NoLibPerson]

It happened at approximately 8:00 pm. His physical description is pretty generic. it was his manner that made him appear shady. He looked nervous and was pacing back and forth a bit and looking around. He did not appear to be waiting for someone specific. Having said that, the physical description goes something like this: black male, short beard and mustache, short hair, approximately 6 feet tall, 150-160 lbs, guessing mid 30s, wearing light blue jeans, a dark blue sweatshirt and a white t-shirt that hung out below the sweatshirt. I would not have desribed him as homeless.

He may have intended to ask us for change, but he definitely got our guard up when he walked around to cut us off on 2nd street and when he confronted us about avoiding him. When he yelled, "You walked all the way around there to avoid me?!", my immediate thought was, yeah, and apparently our instincts about you were right, jacka$$. We had decided to go through the parking lot before we even hit the bottom of the stairs, so it was clear he was paying way to much attention to what we were doing.

[awad]

We were at super fresh a little before you yesterday, around 7. He was there hanging out under the stairs. We came down the stairs and he looked up and started to say something when I looked at him and told him we were good. He sat back down and didn't say anything else. Didn't seem too threatening to me, but that was probably because I shut it down right away.

[Marco]

Panhandling sucks but unfortunately the only thing to do is to ask them to move on. There has been a guy who sits out front of the Foodery almost every night. I always tell him that his time is up and he gets right up and walks away. I just wish the employees of these businesses would do the same. All you really have to do most of the time is respectfully ask them to leave and in my experiences they have.

[Diogenes]

I'm pretty sure this is the same guy I saw today on 2nd street walking home from Superfresh with my kids. He was on the stoop of the abandoned building at Laurel by Dos Segundos. He seemed like he needed some meds. He was harassing passers-by and screaming some racist nonsense. Fortunately, I happened to be on the opposite side of the street.