STOUGHTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Stoughton police say they are investigating after a state representative was approached by a man who they say tried to lure her out of her car in Stoughton.
Rep. Alyson Sullivan said she did not want to take any chances Sunday night when she was approached by a stranger in the Target parking lot.
Sullivan said she had only been in the lot for a minute before the man pulled up next to her, approached her passenger side window, and told her she had oil leaking underneath her car.
Sullivan said she thanked the man and rolled her window back up. She said the man then got back into his car and circled the parking lot for a while.
“I just didn’t want to get out of my car to find out what his intentions were,” she said. “Definitely being by myself, it definitely was a little bit scary.”
Sullivan got his license plate and called Stoughton police. Lieutenant John Bonney said she did everything right.
“She didn’t open the door, she didn’t engage with him, kept a safe distance and that’s really important,” he explained. “The key is to call us.”
Sullivan credited her personal history for keeping her safe.
“I’m a survivor of domestic violence so I feel like I’m definitely more aware of my surroundings,” she said.
She said she has come forward to help remind others to stay vigilant.
“Unfortunately there’s still bad people in this world, just trying to bring awareness to that,” she said.
The department said this is not the first time they have received a call like this. In the last two weeks, they have gotten two similar calls and departments in the area have as well.
Officers urge everyone to stay vigilant when walking and to be on the lookout for a white man in his fifties or sixties who is driving white Jeep Patriot.
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