Teen girl reports ‘stranger danger’ incident in East Naples

Collier County deputies say a teenage girl reported she was approached by two strangers in East Naples on Wednesday.

The girl told detectives the incident happened in the parking lot outside Publix in the Kings Lake Shopping Plaza off Davis Boulevard shortly before noon.

According to the sheriff’s office report, a man who was smoking a cigarette and standing beside a parked vehicle asked the girl in English if she spoke Spanish. She told him she understood Spanish, and he proceeded to ask her personal questions in Spanish. He told her he wanted to get to know her. He asked the girl to come over to where he was standing and she refused.

The girl told detectives that a man who was sitting in the driver’s seat of the parked vehicle kept asking the man outside why she wasn’t walking over to them. The man outside continued to ask her to come over but she refused. At one point, he sternly told her to, “Come here now.” The girl walked away and alerted adults.

“There’s been a lot of incidents, and it’s unfortunate,” Eric Gross said.

Two weeks after attempted kidnappings in Naples Park, those who live right behind the Kings Lake plaza say these types of incidents must stop.

“We feel like Naples is so safe, and I’m concerned people are letting their guard down,” Lin Marie Carey said. “We all need to be looking out for each other and staying safe.”

Detectives said the girl told them the two men never walked toward her nor did they attempt to grab her.

First man’s description: The man who was outside the vehicle is described as Hispanic, in his mid to late 30s, 5-feet, 9-inches tall and weighing 300 pounds, with brown eyes and dark brown hair worn in a short buzz-cut style. His face was full and round and his eyes were large. He had beard stubble that looked like he hadn’t shaved for about a day.

“A lot of people here on vacation from out of state, you don’t, know what’s going on,” Gross said. “You have to be careful.”

Second man’s description: The man who was sitting in the driver’s seat is described as being in his mid 20s to early 30s with dark tight curly hair and light brown skin. He was wearing a dark short-sleeve pullover shirt.

The vehicle was a newer model, dark charcoal gray four-door passenger car with tinted windows bearing a Florida license plate.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Collier County Sheriff’s Office at 239-252-9300, or if you wish to remain anonymous, call Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477).

“I tell my wife, who works in the evenings, to be very alert when she’s out and to always keep her eyes open,” Gross said.