Heavy Hallmark actress Stephanie Bennett says she was followed in her car by a stranger on June 22, 2023
Days after celebrating the premiere of her latest Hallmark movie, “Wedding Season,” and her own wedding to fellow Hallmark actor Sebastian Gacki, actress Stephanie Bennett posted details of a “really creepy” incident in which she was followed by a man in his car on the morning of June 22, 2023.
Though the actress is okay, she was clearly shaken up by the encounter. Sitting in her own vehicle, Bennett posted a video in her Instagram Stories in which she described the encounter and then pleaded with men to consider how “terrifying” such behavior is for women.
Stephanie Bennett Pleads With Men to Think About Impact of Their Actions
HallmarkStephanie Bennett and Casey Deidrick in Hallmark’s “Wedding Season”
Bennett, who’s appeared in many Hallmark projects including 2022’s “Christmas Class Reunion” and episodes of “The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries” and “Signed, Sealed and Delivered,” posted an impromptu video midday on June 22 as she sat in the driver’s seat of her vehicle.
“Okay, I’m in my car and I just had this really creepy thing happen,” she said, looking straight at the camera. “You know, it’s the middle of the day — it’s like 11:30 on a Thursday — and I’m going and I’m getting my coffee and I’m about to go to an appointment and, like, I noticed there’s this car just at pace with me.”
“And the guy’s looking,” she continued. “He’s just looking, just straight up following me for blocks in his car. Like, then I look at him and I kind of give this look like ‘Can I help you?’ And he sort of speeds off and then he goes two blocks ahead and he just stops there with his hazards on like, as if he’s waiting for me to catch up.”
Bennett didn’t say whether she took another route or passed the man’s car; instead, she began talking about how hard it is for women to have to deal with feeling unsafe so often.
“Man, I really wish men were more, just, cognizant of how terrifying it is to be a woman on a daily basis,” she said. “Like, it’s the middle of the day. And genuinely, my heart started racing and my palms started sweating because he was, like, following me!”
Bennett then said she’d much prefer that a guy who’s interested in her maturely and cautiously approach her.
“Like, if you’re gonna shoot your shot or you’re going to try to talk to me or something and you’re polite enough, I’ll politely say, ‘Thank you so much, I’m married. You know, have a good day.’ But if you’re going to literally follow me in your car…”
Bennett, who lives in Vancouver, then suddenly remembered a similar incident two weeks prior.
She recalled, “A guy rolled his window down and he’s like, ‘Hey do you know how to use Uber?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, you just go on the app and you just use it’ and I kept my distance. And he said, ‘Come here, can you do it on my phone for me?’ Like, he had his car door open! Do you know how terrifying that is? Like, what if he grabbed me — again, in the middle of the day, but like, I just don’t think men really understand.”
“And I’m so frustrated right now,” Bennett added, “because they don’t understand how friggin’ scary that is. Don’t do that. Okay, guys? Don’t do that. That’s not how you do it. Anyway, that’s my rant. Thanks for listening.”
Police Offer Tips for Drivers Who Think They’re Being Followed
GettyA San Francisco police car in June 2023
In recent months, police in many cities have issued warnings to drivers — especially women — about staying alert and notifying authorities when they think they’re being followed in their cars.
In early June, three women were attacked while sitting at a stoplight in Toledo, Ohio, according to WTVG, just after they realized they were being followed.
“They were like kicking the car and punching mirrors and punching windows,” one of the victims told the station. “They were pulling on the door handles trying to pull us out. Literally, one of them climbed on the roof of the car and started jumping on it like it was a trampoline.”
Luckily, people at an apartment complex nearby saw the crime in progress and yelled at the attackers to leave, which they did. Police still haven’t found the suspects, the station said.
In San Antonio, Texas, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told NBC affiliate News4 in February that women there were being targeted by carjackers in the early morning hours. Each victim was driving alone and noticed that she was being followed before suspects got out of their cars and approached the women’s vehicles, tapping their windows with handguns and demanding they get out of their cars.
“We still know that this is a common occurrence,” Sheriff Salazar said, adding that women should never drive home and lead their potential attackers to where they live. “Be aware of your surroundings, check your rearview mirrors frequently, and again if you think you’re being followed don’t go wherever it is you were going, continue to drive and call it in.”
The Houston Police Department offers similar guidance in its “Keep Houston Safe” guide for residents. Among its tips for drivers are to immediately lock their doors upon entering the car, avoid eye contact with aggressive drivers and, in cases where they think they’re being followed, drive to the nearest police station, fire station, open gas station or a well-lighted area where there are people who can help.