AUSTIN, Texas — Two women in Austin's Hyde Park and Brentwood neighborhoods say a man is stalking them, following them to their homes and walking into their yards, with both saying they fear for their safety. KVUE News has decided to leave out the names and faces of the women we interviewed to protect their privacy.
A Hyde Park woman says she has been dealing with a scary pattern for eight months: a man continuously coming to look in the windows of her home, specifically her bedroom window.
"We've put up fences, lights, cameras. We've been working with the police. But he continues to come and it's been pretty scary," the Hyde Park woman said. "His pattern is really erratic. He'll come once and then not come for months after that. And then there will be some weeks when he'll come three nights in a week or something. And he comes later in the night, so I'm often asleep, my neighbors are asleep."
Another Brentwood woman who lives across from McCallum High School said she has a similar story. She woke up early Monday morning to a Ring camera notification about a man entering her backyard. She decided to call the police.
"In the video, you can see that the gentleman realizes he's been caught on the camera, so he decides to cover his face but then still proceeds to enter my backyard. So very scary, very suspicious. The police officer and I both felt that there was not good intent with whatever he was up to," the Brentwood woman said. "I feel like this person is escalating to potentially do more harm and that's very violating, very scary, very threatening."
Both women are convinced the alleged trespasser is the same person, creating a flyer to raise awareness.
"It's affected my quality of life a lot, like the quality of sleep I'm getting, my work life, my personal life," the Hyde Park woman said.
They have both filed police reports and are hoping to prevent any future threats.
"I hope that just through community support, getting the word out that we can find this individual so that nothing happens to anyone else," the Brentwood woman said.
The Hyde Park woman said APD has been helpful in terms of providing guidance on what to do with this situation since her case has been upgraded from a Peeping Tom to a stalking one.
APD sent this statement to KVUE:
"The Austin Police Department (APD) is investigating to determine whether criminal acts were committed. We don’t yet know if there will be charges in both, one, or neither of the incidents.
"We advise residents in the area to be vigilant, and to report any crimes are suspicious activity. If we identify an individual and develop probable cause to believe the individual committed a crime, we will bring charges forward."