Salmon Arm resident Taylor Schikowski is encouraging other women to never walk alone and take other safety precautions after she was approached by two men who tried to get her into their car.
Schikowski said it should be a given right for someone to feel safe and actually be safe in their community.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case when the 21-year-old was out for a walk towards Fletcher Park on the evening of June 17.
As she passed by Rotary Village on the corner of Okanagan Avenue and 7th Street SE, she said two white males pulled up beside her in a silver sedan and asked her to get in their car while catcalling her.
When she saw them start to open the car door, Schikowski said she called the police and ran to Rotary Village where she was able to get the attention of one of the tenants.
As she was waiting for the tenant, Schikowski said the two men got out of the car in a nearby parking lot to look for her.
“They were calling for me to come back, in a really disturbing way,” she said.
Schikowski said the two men saw her and started walking towards her, but she was able to take refuge in the tenant’s apartment.
Schikowski said the tenant was incredibly kind and told her she could stay until police arrived.
RCMP appeared about 10 minutes later. As it was dark out and she had fled the men, Schikowski could not provide a detailed description to police.
Salmon Arm RCMP Staff Sgt. Scott West said Schikowski did the right thing going to a residence she considered safe and contacting the police.
“We encourage anyone who feels unsafe to report such encounters to police at the time or as soon as it is safe to do so after it occurs,” said West, adding if investigators can identify the person(s) responsible, police will make every effort to speak to them and take further action if required.
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