Sheriff's Department determines no crime committed regarding recent suspicious person reports; some are false

Note: It is Menifee 24/7’s policy not to refer to social media comments or allegations that can’t be verified. This particular situation is being addressed because of widespread speculation following multiple online posts referencing suspicious persons, resulting in concern and confusion among many of our readers. We delayed reporting on this until we could contact law enforcement authorities and do some fact checking on these incidents. The names of individuals involved are being withheld. It is our intention to pursue facts in this case without exposing anyone to further public scrutiny, rumors or speculation.

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Sheriff’s Department officials have confirmed that investigations were conducted regarding two recent reports by Menifee residents of encounters with “suspicious persons” at local businesses. In both cases, the police determination was that no crime was committed, and police have reported no evidence connecting the two incidents.

Police have received no report of additional incidents, wrote Deputy Robyn Flores, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Department, in an email response to a Menifee 24/7 inquiry. Other alleged incidents have been posted on various social media sites, however, resulting in some confusion among readers.

The first social media posting was made Sept. 13 by a woman who posted in a Facebook video that she and her 4-year-old son were followed by multiple suspicious persons throughout the Ross Dress for Less store on Antelope Road in Menifee. Within hours, her post was deleted, with the woman writing that she had received numerous degrading and frightening comments in response to it.

According to the police report on the incident, deputies responded at 12:38 p.m. to a report that multiple unknown persons were following a woman and her child around the store. Deputies spoke to the woman and store employees, viewed video surveillance, and “were unable to determine that a crime occurred,” Flores said.

The other incident verified by police was reported to them Sept. 14, a day after the Ross store incident was posted on Facebook. In that instance, an employee at the See’s candy store on Haun Road in Menifee reported that 10 minutes before closing time a few days prior, two men who entered the store made suspicious comments in her presence. Before leaving, she said one of the men asked about her work schedule. When told that it varies, he asked upon leaving, “Are you here every Tuesday?”

According to the woman’s Facebook post, she also felt uncomfortable around a “suspicious” man who entered the store on Sept. 14, stared at her for a time and left without saying a word.

According to the police report, deputies responded to the Sept. 14 report and once again determined that no crime had occurred.

The Facebook posts and reaction to them might have died down, if not for a post by a third woman, claiming her husband had been told by a police officer that an attempted kidnapping had occurred in the parking lot of Ross. According to the post, a van carrying seven men and two women attempted to abduct a woman and her 10-year-old child as they prepared to enter their car.

Whether that post was the result of someone confusing it with the earlier Ross report is unclear. At any rate, Flores confirmed to Menifee 24/7 that the report of an attempted kidnapping was false. On Sept. 16, on the Perris Sheriff’s Station Facebook page, a post stated that “[The following] Facebook post has generated some attention. An attempted kidnapping did not occur.” The Facebook report of the alleged kidnapping attempt was attached to the post.

Complicating matters, several residents in subsequent posts claimed that the Sheriff’s Station announcement proved the initial Ross store encounter never happened. Some verbally attacked the woman who made the initial claim, questioning her motives and state of mind.

Flores told Menifee 24/7 that the report in police files confirms the investigation into the first woman’s reported incident in the Ross store, including video surveillance of the men she said were following her. The separate report of a kidnap attempt being debunked in the Sheriff’s Station post referred to a separate claim, Flores added.

The woman who posted the Facebook video about the initial Ross store incident had no comment when contacted by Menifee 24/7.

Among the many social media comments made in response to these incidents was a Facebook post by another woman who said she was followed in her vehicle to a local Chevron station and was approached by a man who appeared to offer her a gold chain in a manner that frightened her. She said she attempted to take the man’s photo and he drove off.

In another Facebook post, a woman wrote that she was in the Ross store with her three children when she noticed three men “peering over aisles, not looking for anything, just standing around watching me and my kids.” She said the men followed her to the checkout counter, where she reported them and was assisted by an employee who made sure she was not followed out to her car.

Flores told Menifee 24/7 that to her knowledge, the department received no report of either incident, or any others besides the two previously mentioned. And while acknowledging the validity of the two incidents for which her department has official files, Flores cautioned residents about their interaction with others and reaction to social media posts.

“Always remember the source of where these social media posts originate from,” Flores said. “Be cognizant when posting or reposting hearsay information, as it may be inaccurate. Factual information will be disseminated by an official agency or entity.”

Flores also provided several tips for how to recognize a hoax social media post:

-- Generic information
-- Lack of suspect information
-- Lack of details
-- Law enforcement not notified
-- Posting based on third hand information
-- Publisher not willing to provide facts
-- Fake social media account

The Sept. 16 announcement by the Perris Sheriff's Station urged residents to report suspected criminal activity directly to Sheriff's Dispatch. Emergencies dial 911, non-emergencies call 951-776-1099.