Man exposes himself to woman while asking for directions at Beech and Queen early Wednesday morning

Erin Horrocks-Pope Sunday, August 16, 2020

Pedestrians fill the sidewalk outside Ed's Scoop, 2224 Queen St. E. during the days and evenings. However, those who walk Queen Street in the early morning hours know it can sometimes seem deserted.

Beach resident, Bailey Honsinger, was walking home from work around 1:30 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday, August 12 when a man called to her from a car idling outside of Ed's Scoop at Beech Avenue and Queen Street East. The man told her that he needed help with some directions, as he was trying to get to Eglinton Avenue. Honsinger looked in the car, observed he was alone, and felt comfortable approaching the car a bit more to help him find his way.

"I told him it was a bit of a drive," Honsinger wrote in a Facebook post sharing the details of her encounter on August 13. "I felt a little weird because he looked a little out of it; he kept repeating my directions, almost like he wasn’t retaining the information."

As Honsinger continued trying to direct the man to Eglinton, she noticed movement around his lap.

"I looked down, and noticed that his fly was undone," she wrote. "He was completely exposed (genitals out), and he obviously had just been doing something to himself before I walked by. I immediately pulled back and started walking away."

The man yelled at Honsinger to come back, driving after her and pulling U-turns to continue pulling up alongside her. He asked her if she needed a ride, to which she replied "No." and continued walking away as fast as she could.

Though Honsinger did not get the license plate of the car, she did report the incident to the police with a description of the man and the vehicle he was driving.

She describes him as a Brown man in his thirties with a smaller build, dark hair and big dark eyes. His vehicle is described as a newer, dark gray or black Toyota or Honda.

Honsinger told Beach Beat that she doesn't feel safe walking alone at night anymore and hopes others will take extra caution.

"I won't be walking alone in the dark anymore. I’m too scared," she said. "I’ve never felt like I needed to watch my back. But, that incident has made me so nervous that I’m not going to walk alone anymore."