A Georgia man is outraged after he says he was stalked and harassed by a random white woman who dialed police on him as he was babysitting two children.
Corey Lewis said the strange woman threatened to take down his license plate number and call the police. (CBS46 / video screenshot)
Corey Lewis, who is Black, said he first noticed the woman as he led the two children he was watching back to his car as they left a Walmart in Marietta, Ga., on Sunday. He said the woman, who was sitting in a Kia sedan, stopped them in the parking lot and asked if the children were okay.
“Why wouldn’t they be OK?” Lewis, 27, replied before the woman drove off.
By the time 6-year-old Nicholas and 10-year-old Addison were all strapped in, Lewis was streaming on Facebook Live as he recalled the strange encounter, detailing how the lady returned moments later and asked to speak to the children. When he refused, Lewis said the woman began stalking him.
“We then left to go get gas, she moved closer and waited there,” Lewis told Atlanta’s CBS46.
Lewis, who owns his own youth mentoring program called “Inspired by Lewis,” said he’d spent the day watching the children while their parents were out. After a few hours at an indoor play area, he said he took the tykes out for a bite to eat at the Subway restaurant inside the Walmart.
That’s when the drama began to unfold. Lewis said the woman threatened to take down his license plate number and call the cops.
The unnamed woman proceeded to follow them from the Walmart, to the gas station and all the way to Lewis’ home where he was met by a Cobb County police officer. Lewis, who was still recording at the time, said he drove the children to his house rather than theirs because he knew people would be outside.
“I’m being followed and harassed,” he says in another video as the officer approaches. “She followed me all the way home. She won’t pull up though … Got these little kids scared.”
“I’ve heard,” the officer replies.
The matter was eventually resolved after the officer questioned Nicholas and Addison and determined they were indeed OK. He then called in to check in with their parents.
David Parker and Dana Mango said they were in disbelief after hearing what’d happened.
“It just knocked us out of our chair,” Parker, the children’s father, said on Tuesday. He said he and his wife were out enjoying dinner when they got the call and initially thought it was a prank.
“We felt horrible for Corey,” he added.
Mango recalled her conversation with police: “I said are you saying that because there’s an African American male driving my two white kids, that he was stopped and pulled over and questioned and [the officer] said, ‘I’m sorry, ma’am, that’s exactly what I’m saying.’ ”
Speaking to CBS46, the couple said they’d arranged for Lewis to babysit their kids three weeks ago. They said Lewis is a family friend and is well-known in the community for his work with children. In fact, their son is an attendee of Lewis’ youth mentoring program.
Parker and Mango told the station they don’t believe the woman was genuinely concerned about their children because they never showed any signs of being hurt or in danger.
“B-W-B, which I guess is the new thing — babysitting while black,” Parker said.
Though the incident left him feeling “criminalized,” Lewis said he’s not going to let it get in the way of his work.
Watch more in the clip below.
This lady from Walmart harassed, followed, & called the cops on me. ALL because I’m black and have 2 white kids with me. 💔💔 #Inspired By Lewis
Posted by Corey Lewis on Sunday, October 7, 2018
