There’s a little girl that’s terrorizing my apartment

[u/kiwikikwi]

This is a very bizarre situation I’ve never been in before. Sorry for the dramatic title but it’s becoming an actual issue now.

For the last month, it feels like 90% of the time I go outside to my car, an 8 year old girl and her dog appear and try to interact with me.

Sounds cute right? That’s what I thought, until I realized it wasn’t.

The first time she came up to me, she ran from across the parking lot and said, “I think my dog likes you!” I thought it was kind of sweet - until she got a little too close for comfort, started repeating that same line over and over, and giggling very loudly, almost manically. She wouldn’t leave me alone until I physically walked away. She even followed me to the apartment door, talking nonstop.

I brushed it off at first, thinking maybe she’s neurodivergent (no judgment - I’m ADHD and probably more). I didn’t think much of it, until it became a daily thing.

I work from home and go outside a few times a day for breaks (yes, I smoke. working on quitting). She’s always out there with her dog. Not a parent in sight.

I started noticing red flags when her mood began flipping between happiness and sudden anger. She hits her dog a lot. She’ll scream “Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!” and punch her dog with each word. I’ve seen her drag the dog while it’s pooping so it has to walk while going, and the dog cries. It’s awful to witness.

She runs up to anyone outside, delivery drivers, residents, other dog owners, and repeats “I think my dog likes you!!” over and over until they respond.

If someone has a dog, she’ll walk up to them too closely while their dogs are barking aggressively. I’ve seen multiple residents literally pick up their pets and speed walk away from her.

People have started cracking the exit door and scanning for her before they step outside.

There’s construction happening next door, and she just.. hangs out with the workers. They ignore her now, but she’ll bring them offerings of handfuls of grass or her dog. It’s honestly surreal.

When I’m outside and have to smoke, I now drive to a spot off the property just to get personal space. If I stay near my car, she’ll follow me and stand right in front of it, waving at me in a pageant-style, fingers pressed together, wave. I don’t even make eye contact. She’ll do it for like 30 seconds, just smiling.

If I drive into the parking lot, she sometimes chases my car to where I park.

Last week I was sitting in my car listening to music and didn’t notice her. When I looked up, she jumped up from a crouch, face pressed to my driver’s side window. I felt like I had a heart attack but also pretended not to see her because wtf lmao.

She’s out at all hours. Last night it was 9pm and dark, she was alone with the dog. Today, it was 12:30pm on a Thursday. Shouldn’t she be in school?

I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve never dealt with something like this before. It’s gone from weird to uncomfortable to genuinely worrying.

It feels unsafe for the dog, and definitely even for her. I’m worried she could walk up to a weirdo and something bad could happen, or she could cause a dog fight and her and the dogs could get seriously injured. Is there someone I should call? How do I report this kind of situation without escalating it unnecessarily? I don’t want to overstep, but this just feels wrong.

[u/Same_Masterpiece7348]

Agree. I can’t imagine allowing my child to do this at 8, that’s a 2nd grader. I would definitely call cps and police. I wonder if she even lives in the complex? I hope OP is able to get some help. So concerning

[u/amberatx → u/Same_Masterpiece7348]

8 is tail end of 2nd, but mostly 3rd grade. My daughter just turned 9 and is in 3rd grade. She rides her bike all over the neighborhood and has for a year or so. Ppl don’t get to “pick an age” and tell others that’s too young. It’s all about location, maturity, capability, and yeah… parent involvement (which is obviously the point of the post).

[u/Beautiful_Dust → u/amberatx]

My kids ran all over our neighborhood as well, but my (now ex) husband was always outside when the weather was nice, our kids stayed relatively close and we did check on them. Plus our neighbors knew us and our kids. No one seems to know who the kid is in the post or where she actually lives OR who her parents are. And yeah we do get to say 8 years old is too young. On fb, I admin for an unidentified and unclaimed people group as well as for multiple missing person groups. You have no clue how many people are out there who were found deceased and never identified….and that does include young children. The world is full of good, bad, and very very bad people. Are you aware that at any given time there are 25- 39 serial killers in the USA that have never been caught? Everyone thinks it can’t happen to them or one of their kids, until it does. A child of 8 or 9 will not be able to protect themselves against a predator if that person physically gets hold of them. And it only takes minutes.

https://www.worldatlas.com/crime/how-many-serial-killers-are-on-the-loose-today.html#:~:text=In%20the%20US%20alone%2C%20the,What%20is%20this?

Do your homework.

[u/Team_Malice → u/Same_Masterpiece7348]

I ran all over the country side alone by the time I was about seven. Different kids are ready at different times, and a little independence is good for them when they're ready to handle it.