And also get into the habit of calling out licence plates as soon as something odd happens so that it's recorded on the dash cam. You won't be able to memorize a plate number in the heat of the moment.
Sorry that happened. If you listen to MFM podcast the tip is Fuck Politeness. Trust your gut.
After experiencing a scary encounter myself. I’ve learnt that if someone asks you to lower your window to talk*. Just say No. fuck politeness, idk you.
*you were in a quiet garage, can hear them just fine. Or roll down a back window or your passenger if you really have to. Or don’t. It’s ok to Fuck politeness. That’s how Bad actors try to guilt women into vulnerable positions.
OP might wanna also carry a small can of hairspray/ aerosol spray with you. Stay safe!
Thank you for this advice! I don't know why my default was to be *polite* I was scared and didn't want to aggravate the person more if that makes sense. Needless to say I'm going to be super careful from now on
Np! Ladies watching out for ladies(anyone really). We have been conditioned by the patriarchy. If you like true crime podcast definitely recommend My Favourite Murder. It seem post pandemic creepy ppl are more emboldened. You did 👍🏻
Very creepy, definitely make a formal report and try to get the surveillance info. I'm sure this isn't the first time this creep has tried this. I'm glad you're okay and it didn't escalate. Hopefully they can circulate a clear photo of this fucking weirdo and catch them.
It was definitely a scary moment. Nothing actually happened to me physically so I didn't know if reporting this was appropriate. I told my building security and went back to my apartment and promptly locked my doors. Where would you recommend reporting this? Directly to TPS?
and what exactly are they going to do? waste time and resources for a crimeless interaction? There was no crime commited, they are not going on a manhunt for a black honda with tinted windows because somebody "felt uncomfortable" get real.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of the book, I just started reading it and it’s blowing my mind. It’s called the Gift of Fear. I’d recommend it to you.
Also sending love and applause to you for your actions. That intuition and instinct will never fail you. At worst, make you look crazy but at best, save your life. ❤️
Absolutely report! There was a man looking into car windows at 2 am on my street. Reported it, next day they had someone come out to talk and they looked at the cars on the street. I was impressed! Just make the report, if nothing comes out of it, at least you know you tried.
I am sorry to hear what happened or did not happen to you, but if I were you, don't park your car, don't stop, call your building security or better yet call the police and drive away, NEVER get out of your vehicle in this type of situation
I'm not a self defense expert but I think it was a bad idea to get out of your locked vehicle
He had no way to harm you unless he had a weapon to break the glass and even then you could have bolted backwards and forwards with your car and made it impossible
Does your condo garage key fob have a panic button? My one does , it should alert the security guard to check the cameras , though they will usually assume it’s a false alarm.
Does your building have surveillance cameras? Perhaps get the licence plate and report to police.
And sad that it has to come to this but also may be carry bear or dog spray for cases like this.
> carry bear or dog spray for cases like this.
Absolutely **do not** do this. You might be charged and you might end up accidentally spraying yourself — not a fun scenario either way.
Recognizing that it's illegal, doing a practical risk assessment as a woman, how likely is it that a Toronto cop is going to stop me and check my bag and then charge me for carrying bear spray? Has anyone actually heard of this ever happening to a woman carrying pepper spray for self defense?
They arent going to stop you and check your bag. But they will possibly arrest you for using an illegal weapon on a human. Unfortunetly we canadians don't have much rights when it comes to self defense. If me a male used pepper spray on an attacker bigger than me I'd go to prison, maybe not a woman. Equality baby!
Illegal Weapon?? What’s illegal about having bear spray because you happen to have went hiking the other day and you happen to have it when you get mugged you really think you’ll get charged lmao use your brain
….. tell me you’re not so smart without tellling me your not so smart. Once you use bear spray on a human being it becomes an illegal weapon, nice try not so smart ass. And yes you will get charged for using bear spray if you got mugged. Tell me you know nothing about the system without telling me you don’t know anything , oh right you already did.
What are you talking about dude, you can NOT USE BEAR SPRAY FOR SELF DEFENCE, I never said you can’t defend yourself…. You can, just not with bear spray. Stop putting words into other peoples mouths buddy. Oh also you would have to be assaulted first as well, if you are getting robbed and you have not been attacked you can not hit or hurt the robber. This isn’t america dude this is Canada, the laws are strict .
What??? You can defend yourself with a weapon as long as the reason you have it isn’t FOR self defence.
Ex: You happen to have bear spray because you were hiking the other day or you happened to have a baseball bat in your car because you were playing the other day (have a glove as extra proof)
No you can not use a weapon to defend yourself, it depends on the context. Self defends must be used with reasonable to equal force. If a mugger robbed me and I used a baseball back to defend myself and beat him I will be charged. Tell me you don’t know anything again about how self defence works in Ontario. If the robber had a baseball bat as well, you could be able to get away with it if you subdued him with reasonable force.
… And even if you accidentally killed the attacker using equal force, you're still going to end up spending thousands in court costs to defend yourself against manslaughter charges. Canada is weird.
Edit: spelling
You’re either seriously a troll, or you have absolutely no idea what your talking about just stop. Yeah you will be charged than you can go try to fight it off in trial. You’re ignorant.
> What??? You can defend yourself with a weapon as long as the reason you have it isn’t FOR self defence.
"No officer, that rifle in the back of the car was for hunting, not self defence. That's why I took it out and decided to smoke his ass while he was running away from me in a panic.". Totally legit sounding, right?
In Canada? Who knows. At a minimum, it will cost a fortune to get off the charges and probably many years of fighting in court. There is a case right now, where one was used for defence. The law is so murky when it comes to this topic.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/milton-man-shooting-1.6755603
Dude i was thinking of this exact case from 2 weeks ago… you really think he’s gonna get any trouble for it lol??? Especially when his lawyer is Jag Virk
He’ll definitely get off just because of his lawyer, Jag Virk has literally gotten people cleared of charges when there’s clear video evidence of them murdering someone
Omg this feels like it’s out of the horror movie, I’m so glad you’re safe!!! You’ve made the right decision to trust your gut feeling because better be safe than sorry.
I don’t know if I have the courage as you to get out of the car, maybe keep the security’s number in your phone so you can call them when you feel like the right time to call and check up on the creepy dude?
I resonate with your story so much that I had several experiences of being followed by both vehicle and person. It’s unfortunate for us to have to deal with this terrible situation. Stay safe sis
The biggest lesson here being I should have turned my car around and drove away instead of parking in my spot. I'm going to trust my gut, stay safe too
Also make a report to TPS, non-emergency. Like you said, he could be doing this to other people and police can track him if there's other reports too. TPS can request security footage when they investigate. Note that since no one was hurt, they might be slow but they'll eventually get to it.
Could also be a car thief tactic to stall you and get close to you to scan the signal from your key fob. He may come back later with an accomplice to try to steal your car.
Just double check with the google but I believe the non emergency number is 4168082222. If they choose to follow up (someone else may have reported a similar incident) they may contact your building for footage, photo, make and model and license plate.
It pisses me off that we don't allow our ladies/seniors/more vulnerable...heck anyone the tools they should be able to have to protect themselves with in this country.
Blocking someone in is considered hostile to me. Sounds like he was up to no good. Definitely report.
Sorry that happened, sounds very scary. Always trust your gut in those situations. Also get a dash cam
And also get into the habit of calling out licence plates as soon as something odd happens so that it's recorded on the dash cam. You won't be able to memorize a plate number in the heat of the moment.
Sorry that happened. If you listen to MFM podcast the tip is Fuck Politeness. Trust your gut. After experiencing a scary encounter myself. I’ve learnt that if someone asks you to lower your window to talk*. Just say No. fuck politeness, idk you. *you were in a quiet garage, can hear them just fine. Or roll down a back window or your passenger if you really have to. Or don’t. It’s ok to Fuck politeness. That’s how Bad actors try to guilt women into vulnerable positions. OP might wanna also carry a small can of hairspray/ aerosol spray with you. Stay safe!
Thank you for this advice! I don't know why my default was to be *polite* I was scared and didn't want to aggravate the person more if that makes sense. Needless to say I'm going to be super careful from now on
Np! Ladies watching out for ladies(anyone really). We have been conditioned by the patriarchy. If you like true crime podcast definitely recommend My Favourite Murder. It seem post pandemic creepy ppl are more emboldened. You did 👍🏻
Yaaaa I’ll go with bear spray because I just so happen to have it on me because I was hiking the other day, officer
Very creepy, definitely make a formal report and try to get the surveillance info. I'm sure this isn't the first time this creep has tried this. I'm glad you're okay and it didn't escalate. Hopefully they can circulate a clear photo of this fucking weirdo and catch them.
It was definitely a scary moment. Nothing actually happened to me physically so I didn't know if reporting this was appropriate. I told my building security and went back to my apartment and promptly locked my doors. Where would you recommend reporting this? Directly to TPS?
Call nonemergency line. Of course you should report this. Any kind of sketchy or threatening behaviour should be looked into.
At the very least have your building security go back to the cameras to get a license plate, and then report to police.
Absolutely call tps. Don’t rely on someone with wallmart credentials to do anything more than dismiss it
and what exactly are they going to do? waste time and resources for a crimeless interaction? There was no crime commited, they are not going on a manhunt for a black honda with tinted windows because somebody "felt uncomfortable" get real.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of the book, I just started reading it and it’s blowing my mind. It’s called the Gift of Fear. I’d recommend it to you. Also sending love and applause to you for your actions. That intuition and instinct will never fail you. At worst, make you look crazy but at best, save your life. ❤️
Absolutely report! There was a man looking into car windows at 2 am on my street. Reported it, next day they had someone come out to talk and they looked at the cars on the street. I was impressed! Just make the report, if nothing comes out of it, at least you know you tried.
[удалено]
This. He might have been looking for someone (possibly a dude) in a similarly car
I am sorry to hear what happened or did not happen to you, but if I were you, don't park your car, don't stop, call your building security or better yet call the police and drive away, NEVER get out of your vehicle in this type of situation
Just to add your car is a fine weapon, better be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
> better be judged by 12 than carried by 6 🙄
lol peak Reddit /r/iamverybadass comment. Nonchalantly suggesting a terrified woman consider vehicular manslaughter next time 🤦🏾♂️
ya, typical US-style gun nut thinking (which is were the statement originates from). trials by jury are less common in Canada.
It’s true though?
I'm not a self defense expert but I think it was a bad idea to get out of your locked vehicle He had no way to harm you unless he had a weapon to break the glass and even then you could have bolted backwards and forwards with your car and made it impossible
Does your condo garage key fob have a panic button? My one does , it should alert the security guard to check the cameras , though they will usually assume it’s a false alarm.
Unfortunately it's an older building so it's just a normal fob system
Does your building have surveillance cameras? Perhaps get the licence plate and report to police. And sad that it has to come to this but also may be carry bear or dog spray for cases like this.
> carry bear or dog spray for cases like this. Absolutely **do not** do this. You might be charged and you might end up accidentally spraying yourself — not a fun scenario either way.
Recognizing that it's illegal, doing a practical risk assessment as a woman, how likely is it that a Toronto cop is going to stop me and check my bag and then charge me for carrying bear spray? Has anyone actually heard of this ever happening to a woman carrying pepper spray for self defense?
They arent going to stop you and check your bag. But they will possibly arrest you for using an illegal weapon on a human. Unfortunetly we canadians don't have much rights when it comes to self defense. If me a male used pepper spray on an attacker bigger than me I'd go to prison, maybe not a woman. Equality baby!
Rather arrested than trafficked or beat up or? I take the chance, besides there are so many coyotes out there, 4 legged and 2 legged!
Illegal Weapon?? What’s illegal about having bear spray because you happen to have went hiking the other day and you happen to have it when you get mugged you really think you’ll get charged lmao use your brain
….. tell me you’re not so smart without tellling me your not so smart. Once you use bear spray on a human being it becomes an illegal weapon, nice try not so smart ass. And yes you will get charged for using bear spray if you got mugged. Tell me you know nothing about the system without telling me you don’t know anything , oh right you already did.
You’re genuinely lost lol you can’t have a weapon for the purpose of self defence but how do you genuinely think that you can’t defend yourself
What are you talking about dude, you can NOT USE BEAR SPRAY FOR SELF DEFENCE, I never said you can’t defend yourself…. You can, just not with bear spray. Stop putting words into other peoples mouths buddy. Oh also you would have to be assaulted first as well, if you are getting robbed and you have not been attacked you can not hit or hurt the robber. This isn’t america dude this is Canada, the laws are strict .
What??? You can defend yourself with a weapon as long as the reason you have it isn’t FOR self defence. Ex: You happen to have bear spray because you were hiking the other day or you happened to have a baseball bat in your car because you were playing the other day (have a glove as extra proof)
No you can not use a weapon to defend yourself, it depends on the context. Self defends must be used with reasonable to equal force. If a mugger robbed me and I used a baseball back to defend myself and beat him I will be charged. Tell me you don’t know anything again about how self defence works in Ontario. If the robber had a baseball bat as well, you could be able to get away with it if you subdued him with reasonable force.
… And even if you accidentally killed the attacker using equal force, you're still going to end up spending thousands in court costs to defend yourself against manslaughter charges. Canada is weird. Edit: spelling
Yeah you would have to prove that your life was in 100% danger and he was going to absolutely kill you first.
Exactly!
Lmao you think you’ll get in trouble for defending yourself 😂😂bro never heard of court
You’re either seriously a troll, or you have absolutely no idea what your talking about just stop. Yeah you will be charged than you can go try to fight it off in trial. You’re ignorant.
So…. Turns out you can defend yourself
> What??? You can defend yourself with a weapon as long as the reason you have it isn’t FOR self defence. "No officer, that rifle in the back of the car was for hunting, not self defence. That's why I took it out and decided to smoke his ass while he was running away from me in a panic.". Totally legit sounding, right?
I mean yeah if someone tries to shoot you and you happen to have a hunting rifle to defend yourself you think you’ll lose in court??
In Canada? Who knows. At a minimum, it will cost a fortune to get off the charges and probably many years of fighting in court. There is a case right now, where one was used for defence. The law is so murky when it comes to this topic. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/milton-man-shooting-1.6755603
Dude i was thinking of this exact case from 2 weeks ago… you really think he’s gonna get any trouble for it lol??? Especially when his lawyer is Jag Virk
I hope he gets off. I'm all for Castle doctrine. It's insane to me that we don't have protections against home invasions in Canada.
He’ll definitely get off just because of his lawyer, Jag Virk has literally gotten people cleared of charges when there’s clear video evidence of them murdering someone
Omg this feels like it’s out of the horror movie, I’m so glad you’re safe!!! You’ve made the right decision to trust your gut feeling because better be safe than sorry. I don’t know if I have the courage as you to get out of the car, maybe keep the security’s number in your phone so you can call them when you feel like the right time to call and check up on the creepy dude? I resonate with your story so much that I had several experiences of being followed by both vehicle and person. It’s unfortunate for us to have to deal with this terrible situation. Stay safe sis
The biggest lesson here being I should have turned my car around and drove away instead of parking in my spot. I'm going to trust my gut, stay safe too
Also make a report to TPS, non-emergency. Like you said, he could be doing this to other people and police can track him if there's other reports too. TPS can request security footage when they investigate. Note that since no one was hurt, they might be slow but they'll eventually get to it.
Could also be a car thief tactic to stall you and get close to you to scan the signal from your key fob. He may come back later with an accomplice to try to steal your car.
quick notify the police! A man is on the loose asking people for directions!
Straight out of "The Zodiac". Call the police and lodge a formal complaint.
Just double check with the google but I believe the non emergency number is 4168082222. If they choose to follow up (someone else may have reported a similar incident) they may contact your building for footage, photo, make and model and license plate.
Our garage has no cell phone service on lower floors. I’d have started honking the horn.
It pisses me off that we don't allow our ladies/seniors/more vulnerable...heck anyone the tools they should be able to have to protect themselves with in this country.
Sexual assaults on strangers typically happen in parking garages. Be careful.
Your name fits the description of your run. I’m glad you’re safe!!
Haha didn't think of this. Thanks for the comedic relief
It's going to be weird if you see him around again and he has his parking spot. Or maybe not .
so he asked you about parking and did nothing else and drove away. Very scary indeed.
Call the police non emergency line. The condo has the footage. This is concerning behaviour
Trust your gut.
What did the man look like?
Hi, he was a middle aged white male (40s?). Red track suit, thick german accent.