Red Deer City RCMP are investigating complaints of a male van driver acting suspiciously in parking lots around the city.
The latest incident that sparked a flurry of emailed warnings being sent around Red Deer happened at 11:30 a.m., Nov. 4, at the Port O’ Call Safeway parking lot.
The complainant and a co-worker, who were taking a break outside the Scotia Bank, reported seeing a male wearing dark glasses looking nervously all around before opening the van’s driver’s side sliding door, and then sitting back with his driver’s seat reclined.
After a while, he moved his van into another parking stall in the same lot — this time in front of the Safeway and next to a woman putting groceries in her car. This time, he opened the passenger side sliding door and again seemed extremely nervous.
Once the woman loading groceries had left in her vehicle, the male moved his van into another parking stall near the Scotia Bank. He leaned his seat back, spoke on the phone, and again opened the passenger side sliding door.
The complainant, who called the police with his licence number, believes the van was stopped by an officer on Gaetz Avenue.
Red Deer City RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Kathe Deheer said the male in question does not appear to be doing anything illegal, but police are investigating, since previous complaints were also received about similar incidents at the East Hill Save-On and PetSmart parking lots.
“We do try to verify these things if they are reported to us,” said Deheer. who cautioned that the man might have a reasonable explanation for his actions. “He might have been waiting for his wife or he might have a medical condition.”
All the same, Deheer warned people to pay attention to their instincts.
“If you feel uncomfortable about someone or a certain situation, you should avoid it.”
The suspicious male in the Safeway parking lot was described as being 1.8 metres tall, 90 kg (six-foot, 200 pounds), with short dark hair, and driving a silver Caravan van with a blue handicapped card in the rear mirror and a Calgary Stampeders front licence plate.