She was walking alone at night in Downtown Long Beach, heading from The Pike to the Westin Hotel parking structure where her car was parked, a walk that normally takes about ten minutes. She’d made two small decisions that night that she didn’t think much of at the time. She wore flats instead of heels because of the distance, and she left her headphones off. She’s still shaking writing about what happened next.
About a block from her car, while crossing the street, she noticed a man watching her. He stepped partway into the street and then abruptly doubled back onto the same block she was on. She turned left at the corner. He continued straight. She kept walking and looked back. The same man was now coming toward her from the far end of the block.
Panic set in. She tried to duck into a parking structure entrance to get off the street but couldn’t find her ticket in her purse, and even if she had there was no way to get inside. She was stuck outside. She kept moving and looked back again. He had turned left and was closing the distance. She spotted three women ahead who looked like they were heading to a club and inserted herself into their group without a second thought. Four women, one man. She pulled out her phone and called the police. He crossed the street and got directly behind all four of them. They turned left together, and when a gap in traffic appeared, all four of them sprinted diagonally across a crosswalk before he could close the distance. There was a bar just ahead and they ran inside shouting for help…