Harassment by Queens Pizza Store Employee

amother

↑ Tomato ↓

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 9:28 am

amother Slateblue wrote:

How about the fact that he followed the girls? He didn't talk to them while they were still in the store, he didn't talk to the adults with them while they were in the store, he didn't shout after them as they were leaving - he followed behind them, crossed a large street, walked about a third of a block, followed them into another store, and then talked to them (as opposed to the adult with them) when that adult was distracted.

What's the old law quote - something about I may not be able to define [filth] but I know it when I see it? So, yeah, I hear what others are saying, about trying to figure out what law he broke, but something seems off here, off enough that I'd want a legal entity involved.

He "followed" them with the clear intention of asking them a perfectly innocent question- which is what he did.

You make it sound as if he followed them with the intention of who knows what.

He followed them to ask them if they took pictures of him. Then when he caught up with them he asked them....if they took pictures of him.

amother

Maize

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 9:32 am

Kind of an off-the-wall suggestion but putting it out there as an alternative to police involvement: are you in the Great Kosher Restaurant Foodies group on Facebook or Whatsapp? It's a huge group with 100k+ members and the founder is very involved and connected with owners of kosher restaurants. He often reaches out to restaurant owners if people had an issue, to resolve and get to the bottom of things. Not "they forgot to include extra ketchup" but if you explain you had this troubling incident, it was posted about online and now lots of upset people are discussing it, I'm sure he'd be willing to help find out what happened.

amother

Catmint ↓

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 10:24 am

amother Tomato wrote:

Again, he could’ve asked them while they were still in the store. Why did he wait till they left and then decide to follow them?

amother

↑ Tomato ↓

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 11:04 am

amother Whitewash wrote:

But the person doesn't have to comply with the request.

That's right, they don't. But many here are making this a police matter. It's not. Whether she was allowed to take pictures (let's assume she was) he is allowed to ask her to delete them. And she can tell him no. And the story is over.

It seems many here believe that since "he followed a girl" out of the store to ask to delete the pictures, he harassed and intimidated her. Um, no.

amother

↑ Tomato ↓

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 11:05 am

amother Catmint wrote:

Again, he could’ve asked them while they were still in the store. Why did he wait till they left and then decide to follow them?

I agree with you. He should have asked in the store. But that doesn't mean that by approaching them in a public street and asking to delete the pics does it become a police matter.

↑ WhatFor

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 11:20 am

amother Tomato wrote:

I agree with you. He should have asked in the store. But that doesn't mean that by approaching them in a public street and asking to delete the pics does it become a police matter.

He didn't approach them in a public street. He followed two random girls from one place they'd been to another, waited for the adult to leave them, then approached them, started accusing them of wronging him (manipulative) and they were reasonably scared (per OP), and he then demanded to see their phones.

I don't know why you're defending this creepy behavior. I'm thinking of what I or any normal adult I know would do if I saw two kids with an adult, and I actually thought the kids were misbehaving. I'm pretty sure the very first thing I would do would be to engage the adult and I'd do it in the exact spot where it happened. The fact that this this guy followed them from the original spot, across a street, and into another private location and waited until the adult left to approach them says all you need to know.

No normal man goes up to two teenage girls and demands they show him their phone, no matter what his excuse is. This behavior screams a billion red flags, and in NYC the police would typically be very happy to ask this guy some questions. Maybe you don't have a lot of experience with the NYPD, but calling the police would be totally appropriate in this situation.

wiki

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 11:21 am

I read the OP and even in the OP's point of view and description, it doesn't sound like this guy was trying to harm the girls. It sounds like he followed them and demanded to see their phone because he desperately did not want anyone to have a picture of him working in the pizza store.

Definitely bring it to the attention of law enforcement and Shomrim, but the real issue here is that this guy obviously seems to be on the run from the law. He sounds like he knows that law enforcement has his wanted photo or something.

He made your girls feel uncomfortable, but I don't see how anything he did in interacting with them would stoop to any level of being legally questionable.

Definitely let law enforcement know, especially because Shomrim was looking for Hispanic men who may have been involved in chasing a boy in Kew Gardens Hills a week ago.

amother

↑ Navy ↓

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 11:21 am

amother Tomato wrote:

I agree with you. He should have asked in the store. But that doesn't mean that by approaching them in a public street and asking to delete the pics does it become a police matter.

Why are you so obsessed with that? Let the police decide. You are rworking too hard to get people not to call. Very strange I wonder what your agenda is.

amother

↑ Whitewash ↓

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 11:42 am

amother Tomato wrote:

She can definitely notify the police that the guy followed her girls & waited until the adult wasn't around before approaching them. It is definitely intimidation.

amother

↑ Tomato ↓

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 12:23 pm

WhatFor wrote:

Wait- one of us has the story wrong. The op said....

"While they were in Wasserman’s, the worker from Benji’s waited until the adult with them was busy on a cellphone and then approached my teenage daughter and asked if she took pictures of him."

The adult was busy on her phone. The op didn't say she wasn't there. I'm assuming the adult was there.

You're saying the worker followed the girls into a private location. The op never said that as far as I can see.

So your story is very different than mine. You say he waited for the adult to leave and was alone with them in private. I don't see where you got that from. If what you're saying is accurate, I'm more inclined to agree with you although I'm still not sure the guy broke the law but it's very creepy and off.

amother

↑ Catmint

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 12:26 pm

amother Tomato wrote:

Seriously. What’s in it for you? Why are you spending so much time defending the guy?!

amother

↑ Tomato ↓

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 12:28 pm

amother Navy wrote:

Why are you so obsessed with that? Let the police decide. You are rworking too hard to get people not to call. Very strange I wonder what your agenda is.

I'm not obsessed with it. I'm a logical person, and I actually would like to hear the other side to this point but nobody including you is making it.

I don't see why approaching 2 girls in a public place and asking they delete photos of him might be considered criminal activity.

amother

↑ Whitewash ↓

Thu, Jul 18 2024, 1:23 pm

amother Nasturtium wrote:

Maybe he is not undocumented or on a police watch. Maybe he is undercover or witness protection?
A person can not want their picture taken for a non-menacing reason.

I would be very upset it your girls took my picture.

The girls didn't take his picture. The girls took pictures of themselves & he happened to maybe be in the background. The girls did nothing wrong.