A woman in Chicago, Illinois, noticed that a man was attempting to follow her to her apartment. Quick thinking led her to lock the man in her building’s stairwell, avoiding a most likely dangerous situation right on her doorstep, all while the police responded and escorted her home.
The aftermath of the scary moment was shared online by Monica Fitz. She regularly posts a variety of content online, including lifestyle posts, reality show episode reviews, and even her workout routines. The clip attached above became one of her biggest in just a few days, garnering 1.8 million views, 222,200 likes, and more than 800 comments.
The Illinois woman began her video by stating that she believed somebody had been following her to her apartment. Therefore, she was going down to her building’s security to alert them about what was going on. Notably, there was no other person in frame, and that had a simple explanation.
“I locked them in the staircase, like in the stairwell,” Monica said.
Followed Home
She explained that the man had gone into an elevator with her. After he didn’t disclose what floor he was getting out, the woman stepped out of the elevator and soon noticed that the man was following her. She then said that she opted to walk into the stairwell instead of her apartment. For obvious reasons.
“He probably doesn’t know that once you’re in the stairs, you need a key to get back to the apartments,” Monica explained. That means that the man was unable to exit the stairwell through the doors leading to the apartments. His only way out was through the ground floor.
The Illinois woman did exactly that as the man kept following her, she claimed. Eventually, she made it back to the elevator, with the man now unable to follow her inside the building. She did spot him once again when she exited her floor, though, as the man watched her through the stairwell’s window, according to her.
Unfortunately, the building’s security didn’t do anything for her. The police ended up responding to the building, as seen in a follow-up clip, and confirmed that the man was not hiding in the stairwell. An officer then escorted her to her apartment, yet-to-be-seen security footage was reviewed, and a police report was made.
Social Media Reactions
The video sparked multiple responses online, mainly from viewers who were glad Monica was safe, even applauding her for her quick thinking. One said, “Your situational awareness is locked in.” Another one commented, “You did great handling such a stressful encounter.”
Others blasted her building’s security for allowing such an incident to occur and doing nothing afterward. One user wrote, “Write a review on Yelp… Corporate will make changes b4 the weekend.” Another one added, “At least the police took it seriously.”
The Illinois woman ended up buying mace and brass knuckles for protection, as shown in another follow-up.
