HARPER WOODS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Staff at Rhema International Church and Rhema Childcare Center said a man was fondling himself in the parking lot Wednesday at 8 a.m.
Surveillance footage from the church, which is on the border of Harper Woods and Detroit, shows a man standing on the right side of his vehicle with both doors open.
"And based upon what (staff) told me, because I wasn't here, the gentleman was pleasuring himself," Bishop Eric Lloyd told 7 News Detroit.
See surveillance video of people approaching the driver below:
He walked 7 News Detroit through the footage, which began with a staff member of the child care center walking toward the building. Linda Edwards said she noticed the man pull into the parking lot after her.
She said he had opened his door and was smoking a cigarette when the two locked eyes.
"We're trained every year to follow our instincts with people. We take care of like 30-plus children all under the age of 5, and our first priority is to keep them safe. So, if our instincts are telling us 'watch out, watch out,' then you watch out," Edwards explained.
Once inside, Edwards said she reported the unfamiliar man to other staff members. During that time, the man had moved his vehicle a few spots over and walked to the right side of it, opened both doors and stood between them.
Mylah Lloyd told 7 News Detroit she went to confront the man to see what was going on and to ask him to leave.
"As we're approaching, I was like 'excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.' I said it a good four times, maybe. It wasn't until we got a little bit closer to the vehicle where I could see exactly what he was doing and that's when I stop," she recalled.
"That's like the last thing that I think somebody would be doing. I never experienced anything like this."
She said he was clearly fondling himself and she told him he needed to leave.
"He was still doing what he was doing. He turned around and cut his eyes at me. It was literally like a death stare he gave me. He never said a word though. He just looked at me and then, he turned back around. He continued for like a few seconds," Lloyd recalled.
She said she was so caught off guard that she didn't think to get his license plate.
Eric Lloyd said he filed a police report. Detroit police told 7 News Detroit the case is under investigation and that includes looking for the man in question.
"We were 30 minutes from opening up the doors to all of our students and it was kind of disheartening that someone would come to the church or the child care center and do something like that," he said.
"The reason why we put the word out in the community was because we wanted to make everybody aware of this situation because if there's a predator, he needs to be caught," Eric Lloyd said.
If you recognize the man in the video or have any information about this case, you can call Detroit police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
