Teen speaks out after using quick thinking to get away from man following her in Delaware County
The case of stranger danger has captured national attention.
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WPVI) -- A young Delaware County girl who was able to get away from a man who was following her by using her quick thinking is speaking out about the scary encounter.
The case of stranger danger has captured national attention.
RELATED: 'Is that my aunt Rachel?': Quick-thinking teen turns to store workers when stranger starts following
Good Morning America spoke with 17-year-old Ariana MacMillan and her mother.
"I kept hearing this guy. It sounds like an older man, and I don't think an older man would approach me that way," Ariana recalled.
Ariana sought the help of a store owner in Ridley Township when a man followed her on MacDade Boulevard.
She said he kept walking closer and closer to her, making inappropriate comments.
"He had a very large bottle of liquor in his hand, and in my eyes, I saw that as a weapon," she said.
"He pushes me a little bit," she said before she recalls him telling her, "We better start walking."
"In this moment, I had a sense of panic in my brain and I needed to do something immediately," Ariana said. "There is a woman there and I'm going to run to her."
She described seeing a sign that mentioned someone named "Rachel," so she said she just started calling the woman "Aunt Rachel."
That shop owner immediately played along and took Ariana into her store with her.
"It distracted whatever that gentleman was trying to do," Ariana's mother said.
That quick-thinking teen is drawing heaps of praise for pretending a woman was her aunt in order to get away.
The man was arrested and charged with stalking and harassment.
