Police seek info after reports man stalking walkers

A WARWICK woman has spoken of her panic at being stalked by a hoodie-wearing stranger while on her morning walk through the Condamine River Green Belt.

As reported yesterday, two female joggers contacted the police last Friday morning after a man in his mid-20s exposed himself to them near the O.O. Madsen Bridge.

The women alleged the incident occurred about 7.30am, but a third woman has come forward reporting having been followed by what is thought to be the same man for several hundred metres an hour or so earlier.

Police have this week attempted to locate the man without success and have asked the public for any information in relation to suspicious activity on Warwick's public walking and bike paths.

The woman who spoke to the Daily News yesterday said she had been walking her dog along the river starting near the Queens Park skate bowl at 6.30am.

She said she first spotted a male wearing dark clothing and a hoodie seated on a bench beside the walking trail near the first bend in the river, apparently looking down at a phone in his hands.

"He stood up and took his hoodie off and started walking in front of me," the woman said.

"He had on large sunglasses so it was still difficult to make out his face.

"I went past him quickly and when I turned around he had disappeared, which I thought was weird, and then the next thing I knew he was ahead of me again in the (exercise) rotunda near the footy fields and was glancing back at me.

"That was when I started getting panicky and there was not one other person around.

"I kept walking in the direction of the boat ramp which is where I usually go, trying to keep calm and I kept looking all around in case he came out again somewhere, like the area up behind Ryanie For Tyres.

"Not long after I turned around before the footbridge and he was under the (Madsen) Bridge with his hoodie back on but that was the last I saw of him."

The walker said at one point she pretended to call someone on he mobile phone which she feels may have persuaded him to take off.

"I got back to the skate park and the police were there - I have never been so relieved in my life," she said.

"I really thought he was going to try and grab me, it was just freaky and my eyes were just darting everywhere.

"I spoke to the police who said they had had a call from other people about someone acting strangely but they weren't able to locate anyone."

The woman - who has been walking in the river area for the past two years - said locals should not be frightened of exercising early in the morning or late in the day or early evening, but to take some simple precautions.

"Just be aware of your surroundings," she told the Daily News.

"When you can always go walking or jogging with someone else, but always, always carry your phone with you.

"If you don't have your phone and there is no-one around like the other morning, what are you going to do if someone approaches you?"

The male suspect has been described as being in his mid-20s, of olive-skinned or indigenous appearance, between 170 and 180cm tall and with a slender, athletic build and clean-shaven with tidy, closely-cropped hair.

Other reports were that the same man or another male had been seen in the river area performing a sex act in public on the morning in question.

Warwick Police Acting Senior Sergeant Des Canning said police had so far been unable to locate any person matching the man's description but urged the public to provide information.

"We need to have as much information as we can if we are going to take any action on these kinds of incidents," he said.

"Any details of anyone acting suspiciously, no matter how seemingly unimportant they may seem, should be passed onto police as soon as possible."

Report suspicious activity to Warwick Police on 4660 4444 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000



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