‘It’s disturbing’: Naked driver trying to lure Charlotte girls to SUV, neighbors say

Kristin McDonald’s 13-year-old daughter was walking with a friend from Starbucks in the Chantilly neighborhood when an SUV stopped and the driver asked them for directions.

The two teenage girls approached the man’s SUV only to discover he was naked.

The girls then responded in a “very smart way,” McDonald said. They quickly backed away from the vehicle and walked toward a neighbor’s house until the SUV left because they were concerned the man would find out where they lived if they ran home.

The incident happened Aug. 18 on Bay Street, but what McDonald didn’t know then is that the same man is believed to be trying to lure young girls in other Charlotte neighborhoods.

“It’s disturbing to hear that this has been going on in numerous neighborhoods, and police haven’t been able to track him down,” McDonald told The Charlotte Observer.

McDonald’s daughter described the man to her as possibly in his 60s, white, with white hair and tattoos on his right shoulder.

The vehicle is a grayish-blue Chevrolet Equinox with a South Carolina license plate, according to a post in the Nextdoor app’s Myers Park East neighborhood group. McDonald said it’s the same vehicle her daughter encountered.

In his Nextdoor post, Jeff White said his teenage neighbor was approached by the man at 3:36 p.m. on Sept. 6. White and his wife recorded themselves tailing an Equinox down several streets. They lost sight of the SUV after it made random turns and ran stop signs and red lights.

A police report was filed after the chase, White said.

The offense is listed as a non-criminal incident, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police spokesman told the Observer.

“Obviously, this incident was concerning, but no crime was committed, so officers completed a report to document what occurred,” the spokesman said. “While it may not meet the elements of a crime, officers have increased patrols in the area to ensure the safety of the community.”

The spokesman didn’t elaborate on what charges the man could face if caught because he said “each incident is unique” and it’s “difficult to speak on hypothetical situations.”

“His actions, statements and intent would all affect possible charges he could face,” he said.

White returned a request for comment from the Observer by phone, but hung up almost immediately after calling a reporter.

Peter Grant, a community coordinator for CMPD, posted on Nextdoor “to be on the lookout” for the man. He described him as an older white male with gray hair and a gray scruffy beard.

He advised people to not approach, and if seen, call 911 and give a good location or direction of where the man’s vehicle is traveling.

“The person has exposed himself in the past and police need to speak with him immediately,” Grant said.

The man and the vehicle have been spotted in at least five other neighborhoods, according to several responses to White’s post. Other than Myers Park and Chantilly, people spotted the man in Barclay Downs, Elizabeth, Plaza Midwood, Carmel Station and Montibello.

Lori Welke told WCNC Charlotte that her teenage daughter was walking the family dog on Wickersham Drive in Barclay Downs when the man drove past her three or four times before asking for directions. Her daughter ran away when she realized the man wasn’t clothed.

“I would just say for any child, if any adult is asking you for instructions you don’t need to be helping them do that, they can go ask another adult, just direct them to an adult, kids don’t need to be doing that,” Welke told WCNC.

McDonald said she called 911 after her daughter’s incident, but she didn’t file a police report because she didn’t think it would be an ongoing issue. To help increase police presence in her neighborhood, she said they filed a report Wednesday evening.

“I had thought this was a one time thing,” she said. “I find it scary that this man is so bold to return (to neighborhoods). I worry that it can escalate to something else. Hopefully we can catch him.”