A Smithfield man is in the Johnston County Jail on charges of stalking, sexual battery and taking indecent liberties with a child.
Irving Douglas Allen, 68, of 1005 Wilson’s Mills Road, was arrested this week at Walmart on North Bright Leaf Boulevard. He faces two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child, a felony; five counts of sexual battery, a misdemeanor; and two counts of stalking, also a misdemeanor.
According to police reports, five female customers, including two girls under 16, accused a man of “grabbing and groping” them.
“He actually walked up behind the individuals, began talking with them and grabbed their buttocks,” said Lt. R.K. Powell.
Police suspect the same man of stalking two female shoppers at Carolina Premium Outlets on Industrial Park Drive.
At the outlet center, Powell said, the man approached the women in his truck, pulling up beside them to strike up a conversation. They didn’t show interest, Powell said, but he continued following them around, pulling up each time they walked out of a store. When they tried to get in their car to leave, he blocked their path.
“He attempted to make contact with them several times,” Powell said. “(Each time) they would walk away.”
The women went back inside and waited for the man to leave, Powell said. Then they called police, who caught up with him later that day.
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