A teenager has been praised for her quick thinking after a man approached her and began acting inappropriately.
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It all went down on a busy street in Ridley Township, Delaware, where the teen was out for a jog when a man reportedly started approaching her while holding a bottle of alcohol.
He allegedly made some deeply unsettling comments and tried to spark up a conversation.
“Are you afraid,” he asked her, according to ABC 13 Eyewitness News.
He allegedly made more inappropriate and sexualised comments towards her, before reaching out to touch her arm.
Feeling the alarm bells ring, the girl didn’t freeze. Instead, she spotted two local business owners standing nearby — Tina and Bill Moss of Euphoria Integrated Health and Wellness — and decided to make a bold move.
She called out to Mrs. Moss, pretending she was a family member.
“Aunt Rachel,” she called out, as she dashed toward Tina Moss and ran straight into her arms.
Thankfully, the couple instantly understood what was happening. They opened their doors and brought the teen safely inside.
But the man wasn’t done.
“He followed her directly to the store and banged on the glass,” Mr. Moss told the news station.
Speaking about the incident, Mr. Moss explained they weren’t heroes — just regular people trying to do the right thing. He and his wife are simply local business owners who believe in looking out for the people around them.
He said they just wanted to “protect the children” in their community.
He added: "We're just normal people. We're parents...we just own a store in our town. So we want to make sure our town is safe and we're here for you."
The girl’s mother, Christina Pino, later spoke to 6abc about what her daughter was thinking in that moment.
“She just thought, ‘I had to get out of the situation quick’, and so she said, ‘Aunt Rachel! Aunt Rachel!’” she explained.
Pino added a warning for others in the area: “I just think people in Ridley Township need to be more aware of the people that are walking along MacDade Boulevard.”
Pino added that she hopes the man gets help and has urged parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of strangers out in public.