A TikToker has issued a terrifying warning to female drivers after a woman found a bottle of water deliberately left on her car.
Haley West, the woman at the center of the incident, took to TikTok to share the sinister story. She said that a man had followed her to her car, and initially pretended the car was his before leaving a water bottle on the roof.
While still in the parking lot where the encounter occurred, she explained in a video: "I'm literally shaking right now the weirdest s**t just happened to me. I'm leaving Fresh Thyme and I'm parked in this big parking lot.
"This guy was walking like kind of close to me, kind of not, but you could tell he was like staring at me while he was walking, and he yells over to me like 'hey what's your name?' and I just ignored him and I kept walking and he just kept following me.
"This man walks right up to my car and he's like, 'come check out my car it's nice it's a Lexus, you like it?' Like it's my car, though I didn't react to that because that would have given away that it's my car, although I think he already knows."
Wary of the man, Haley decided against getting in the car right away and crossed the street to get help.
When the man finally left, Haley returned to her car but noticed something strange.
Haley said: "When I came back out here there was a water bottle on my hood. I don't want that to correlate but that's never happened to me. I just wanted to say be aware of your surroundings at all times, especially if you're a woman, be careful out there."
When the video – which currently has 1.5 million views – went viral, another TikToker named Elle did a video response about the water bottle and her take on why the man may have placed the item on Haley's car.
Elle said: "[Haley] was followed by a man and then when she came back to her vehicle after seeking out help a water bottle was left on the hood of her car. This is a tactic used by traffickers and kidnappers to get you to exit your vehicle and take whatever is on top of the car.
"If you have this happen and something is on the hood of your car when you come back to it, leave it there, drive away it'll fall off on its own."
She also said that if you feel "extremely threatened" you should go to the police or a car shop so they can check the vehicle for GPS trackers.
Elle explained: "GPS trackers can be put on the bottom of your car and they can give off your location for a certain amount of time. Traffickers don't care how old you are, they don't care what you're wearing they don't care about your size, if they want you, they'll try to get you.
"Always be aware of your surroundings, try to go shop with a friend I know it's hard during Covid, keep pepper spray or protective device on you. Please stay safe."
