Bedfordshire Police say they have arrested a man after an “alarming incident” in which a teenage girl was followed home from her lifeguard job at Robinson Pool earlier this month.
The 17-year-old girl was followed while driving home last Wednesday evening (5 February) after her shift at the pool had finished at 10.30pm. The girl said she had seen a man in Robinson Pool’s car park jump into his car and started following her as she drove away.
She decided not to go directly to her home in a nearby village but looped around. The man continued to follow her.
She then headed back towards Bedford to meet her boyfriend and his dad who, while on the phone to her, told her to pull over further down their road.
The man is said to have pulled over right next to her, before speeding off when challenged by her boyfriend’s dad.
He was then seen the next day near to the girl’s school and a man fitting his description also tried to get into another woman’s car as she sat in traffic on Park Avenue.
Read: Police investigating after girl followed home from Robinson Pool in “alarming incident”
The Bedford Independent picked up the story after people close to the girl complained that despite reporting the incident and receiving a crime reference number, a police officer had still not been assigned to the case until almost a week later.
After we made enquiries to Bedfordshire Police, an officer carried out a face-to-face interview with the girl and also arranged for one to take place with her boyfriend’s dad. They also confirmed patrols in the area had been “stepped up”.
This afternoon, (Friday) A spokesperson for Bedfordshire Police told us that a man in his 30s has been arrested “on suspicion of stalking” in connection with the incident and is currently in police custody for questioning.
Anyone with information or dashcam footage from the area around the time of the incident, 5 February at 10:30pm is asked to contact Bedfordshire Police online or via 101 quoting reference 40/7144/25.
