MACCLENNY, Fla. – A Macclenny woman on Monday warned people in her community about a strange man who she said tried to lure her into the woods.
The Baker County Sheriff's Office is investigating. Deputies told News4Jax a report was filed, but Tina Robinson said she's not the only person whom the man has approached in the last few days.
Robinson, a housing employee in Macclenny, recounted the terrifying encounter. She said she saw a strange man Friday while she was on her way to the Quick-N-Handy store on North Sixth Street.
"I was scared," Robinson said.
She said she saw the man talking to a tenant outside his house, just down the street from the store.
"He was bigger, heavyset, 6 foot, black hair, unshaved, shirtless, sweaty," said Art Buckheim, the tenant.
Buckheim said the man was looking for a woman he didn't know, and asked about her plants.
"That's not the type of guy I want around me. It's more like the guy you run from in an ally," he said.
Shortly after that, Robinson said, the same man jumped in front of her car and then followed her into the store.
"He first tried to jump out in front of my vehicle, and then, kind of, laughed and smiled at me when that happened," she said. "And so I drove on to the store and when I got to the store, within a few seconds, he was right behind me."
Inside the store, Robinson said, she was getting a fountain drink when the strange man started talking to her.
"Tried to have conversation with me. Told me I looked nice," she said. "I was nervous. I was scared. I think he wanted people in the store to think that we knew each other or that we were at least acquaintances."
Robinson said she exited the store and that's when the man started motioning her to come into the woods with him.
"Then he kept telling me, 'Come here. Come follow me. Come follow me,'" she said.
Robinson ignored him. She said she drove away as fast as she could and called the Sheriff's Office. Now, she hopes the stranger will stay away.
"You just never know, and it scared me," Robinson said. "I just think that people need to always watch their surroundings."
Robinson described the stranger as a white man, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, with dark hair that is balding at the top, and said he was wearing camouflage pants.
Baker County deputies said they want to figure out who the man is to make sure he doesn't have bad intentions toward any of the women he's approached. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 904-259-2231.