Rochester PD Investigating Suspicious Incident at Hobby Lobby

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Rochester Police Department is investigating what’s being described as a suspicious incident that occurred in the Hobby Lobby parking lot Wednesday evening. 

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Police Captain Casey Moilanen said a woman in her 40’s ended her shift around 10 p.m. and told police she saw a vehicle parked next to her vehicle with a person inside that she says appeared to have been looking inside of her vehicle. The woman told officers she left the parking lot but noticed her vehicle had been driving unevenly. 

Moilanen said the woman returned to the Hobby Lobby parking lot for better lighting and found that someone had slashed one of her tires. She then saw what she described to officers as an older, boxy tan vehicle circle her vehicle several times in the Hobby Lobby Parking lot. 

She told officers a person she described as a 5’6” black man in a gray-blue coat exited the boxy vehicle, approached her and asked her if she needed help or a ride. She said the man then asked her for money for gas. 

Moilanen said the man also told the woman, “you’re younger than I thought,” before he returned to the tan vehicle and left the area. The woman told officers she felt the man may have been trying to abduct her. 

Moilanen said the incident could’ve been an abduction attempt or a good Samaritan. He said the combination of a slashed tire and the man’s comment to the woman makes the incident suspicious.