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Keep your eyes out for a strange lurker at Mt. Lake Park

Posted on by Sarah B.

SFist received a tip today that a strange pull-up zealot has been lurking around Mountain Lake Park and taking pictures of children. The park is located just off Lake Street between 8th Avenue and Park Presidio Boulevard.

Please help spread the word to people you know in this neighborhood. I have seen this man 2 times at the lower playground at MLP. He does NOT have children and pretends like he does and is there to do pull ups. He takes pictures of the kids with his phone.

He drives a silver PT cruiser and wears sunglasses. He takes pictures of BOTH boys and girls. He looks for kids that don’t have care givers near by. I have not confronted him, but take Scout and stand next to him. He gets nervous and puts his phone away and eventually leaves. I personally believe that given the chance he might engage the kids and who knows what could happen…

If you have any information about this or see him at Mt. Lake Park in the future and witness suspicious behavior, please call the Richmond District police department at 553-0123.

Sarah B.

18 Comments

  1. I’ll pass this article along to the parents in my group.
    thanks.

    Ed Palmer

  3. Thanks Sarah,
    Personally I would advise not to get anywhere near him or any other suspicious person for that matter. dial 553-0123 or 911. The more information you can give, (clothes, hair, height, license number etc) the better. The original post also did not mention alerting other parents who were nearby, that probably would be useful as well.

  4. Thanks for posting. Also had this alert forwarded to me from a parents’ group. Had hoped to go to last night’s meeting about community safety. Glad to hear parents are looking out for each other.

  6. That’s too bad you can’t post the pics. The Richmond District Police Newsletter included the pictures of him. I’d like people to know who they might watch out for. Thanks.

  8. I’ll tell you what; this community is amazing! The word of this guy lurking in Mtn. Lake Park got around so fast. I never even had to forward the email because it was sent to me by seven different sources!
    Let this be an example of the amazing Richmond Warriors; look out bad guys; you have come to the WRONG neighborhood! 🙂

  10. I saw this guy doing pullups and streches at Dolores Park playground a few months ago,he had longer hair

  11. who works out in jeans and a hip length jacket? (see photo in prior post) he prob knew police would find him and ditched all evidence.

  12. I disagree with David about “not getting anywhere near him or any other suspicious person…” What is “suspicious”? What is “creepy”? Those sound more like words that evoke particular emotions in someone than an actual descriptions of someone else. It sound too similar to me like the AZ police approaching anyone they “suspect” to be undocumented.

    I’m surprised that no one attempted to interact with him, say “hello,” and directly ask him “are you taking pictures of the children here?” We don’t have to live in a world where the default is fear. He may have been a clueless guy who didn’t know that you can’t be at the playground without a child, or maybe he knew and didn’t care about that regulation. Having a conversation with him and getting information may have saved a lot of unnecessary worry for many parents.

  13. Thanks Laura, good point. Actually I think we agree. If someone felt comfortable in speaking with him it would have made it all a non issue. The don’t approach for me is tied to being fearful. If you are fearful, have more people with you, call to get some Police support, neighbors,etc. There is greater safety in numbers and the little voice inside that says watch out usually is right. We also have different definitions of suspicious. I totally agree with you the default immediate reaction should not be fear. In all the comments it also seems that reactions are tied to our view of the world the wave is breaking eek- or riding it all the time watching how the tide is going.

  14. You guys are so silly. You’re like co-worker who complains to the boss about someone before confronting the co-worker. Sad people.

  15. SFPD deems alleged playground lurker not a threat
    http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/SFPD-deem-alleged-playground-lurker-not-a-threat-92229949.html

    After letting your worst fears make up facts and wild accusations and distributing his picture around the internet, it turns out he isn’t a lurker. Next time, just go up to the person and ask them if they have a child there and, if not, please leave. There’s no sense in ruining a perfectly innocent person’s life like this. A follow up apology blog post and email chain would be appropriate.

  16. Honestly, I’m disappointed in the comments being made here. This man created some anxiety for a mom. She trusted her instincts and did what she thought was best. I agree we shouldn’t live our lives in fear but how can we be sure that’s what this mom was reacting to and why blame her for this fear ridden society. It’s not like she or other SF mom’s are reporting situations like this every week. As for this man, in my opinion, the only thing he was accused of was being in locations he wasn’t supposed to be. Do we know that his life has been ruined? Please give this mom and all mom’s a break. It’s a tough enough job as it is.

  17. Cindy, it is not this mother’s job to be a vigilante and spread libel. She should have alerted the authorities or said something to the man. We have a wonderful thing in this country called innocent until proven guilty, we should try to keep it that way.

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