Female students report man following them on Ohio State campus

The man is described as African American, in his early 20s, around 5’8 in height

Female students have been warning one another about a man following them around campus.

At approximately 10:50 p.m. on March 27th, Ohio State student Ellen Claire Williams, a social work major, described suspicious activity near High St. and 18th Ave. Williams messaged her friends saying the following:

“PSA to anyone out & about rn: A man chased me down high st & continued to follow me as I’m walking to the SEL. The whole time I was like ‘please leave I don’t know you’ & I was trying to be calm so he wouldn’t like chase me or attack me & (finally) the dude was like ‘hey can I see your bag’ & I was like ‘no I think you should go’ & a random guy student just turned around & was like ‘are you good?’ & helped me walk away from him. I am shaking. He followed me from woodruff & high almost to the doors of SEL so pls pls pls be careful.”

Williams said that a man chased her down High St. and continued to follow her as she made her way to the Science and Engineering Library located on 18th Ave. Williams calmly asked the man to leave, as she did not know him. Eventually the man asked her to see her bag.

She responded, “No, I think you should go.”

Another male student saw the encounter and asked Williams if she was OK. The student then escorted a shaking Williams away from the man.

Williams also reported to her friends as well as her peer, Daniel Griffith, that the man was “probably like early 20s about 5’8″-5’9″ African American male wearing black jeans and an olive green jacket with like almost sewn on badge looking things. His hair was like black and kinda a man bun deal.”

Another girl in the GroupMe message where Williams was reporting all of this to, Emmy Wydman, said that she had also seen the same man following her down 15th Avenue. Wydman said that the man “stopped when I met up with my guy friend near pearl (ave).”

Students, keep your eyes peeled for this man and as always, if you see suspicious activity report it to campus police at 614-292-2121.

Additionally, if you are nervous about walking alone somewhere, please take advantage of using Student Safety Services by calling them at 614-292-3322.

More
Ohio State