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Groveland Police Investigate 'Extremely Upsetting' Incident Where Woman Was Followed

GROVELAND (CBS) -- Groveland Police are investigating an incident where a 21-year-old Black woman was followed by a White man in a car.

The woman, who WBZ-TV is not identifying, said she was on Juniper Terrace to pick up some free dog food Monday afternoon. She learned about the free dog food from a Facebook community group.

As she turned around to head home, she said a man started following her.

"He followed me the entire five minutes almost. So I just pulled onto a side street cause I don't want to bring him to my house," said the woman. She caught the interaction with the man on video.

"I just rolled down my window I leaned my head out the window I'm like, 'Is there a reason why you're following me? And he's like, 'Is there a reason why you're driving around my neighborhood?"

When the woman told him about the dog food, the man said he did not believe her.

"There is no reason he should have felt threatened besides the pure reason that I am black," said the woman.

Another resident saw the interaction and asked the man to leave.

"She was treated inappropriately. She was treated like she was up to no good and she was simply doing her own thing not bothering anybody," said Groveland Police Chief Jeffrey Gillen. He is overseeing the investigation himself.

"I found it extremely upsetting. I was actually furious when I first saw it. I felt so bad for what that woman went through," Gillien said. "I want to have this suspect charged. I want to hold him accountable and make sure he understands that for his actions there is going to be a reaction he's probably not going to feel too comfortable with."

WBZ-TV reached out to the man in the video but has not heard back.

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