72-year-old stalked women, crawled under their cars in mall parking lot, CA cops say

A California man allegedly harassed multiple women outside of a San Diego shopping center, and would crawl under their cars to prevent them from leaving the parking lot, outlets report.

The San Diego City Attorney’s Office is bringing two charges of false imprisonment, and a charge of assault and battery, 72-year-old Orlando Chavez, KGTV reported.

The false imprisonment charges stem from two incidents in August, CNS reported.

Authorities say Chavez has been crawling under women’s vehicles for some time, with the earliest known incident dating back to 2018, KGTV reported. In one recent instance, Chavez is accused of walking up to a woman, grabbing her by the arm and telling her “You can flatten me out any time.”

Another time, Chavez was caught in the act by an off-duty San Diego police officer, CNS reported. The officer told Chavez to come out from beneath the vehicle. Chavez said he didn’t do anything wrong, got into his truck and drove away.

Police said Chavez also stalked another woman and followed her to her place of work, NBC 7 reported. Investigators believe he’s been stalking the woman for about two years, and at one point punctured the tires of her husband’s car.

“Everyone has the right to feel safe when going to work, shopping, or picking up their children at school,” City Attorney Mara Elliott said in a statement, according to NBC 7. “As City Attorney, I take seriously threatening and harassing behaviors like this and will hold accountable individuals who endanger the safety of any San Diegan.”

Additional witnesses and victims are encouraged to come forward to the City Attorney’s Criminal Division at 619-533-5500, outlets report.

This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 6:05 PM.