Police: Man tries to grab woman because 'God had chosen her'

NORCROSS, Ga. — Gwinnett County Police are on the lookout for a man they say tried to drag a young woman out of Norcross bookstore.

Investigators said the man has approached at least three women in three days at the Shops at the Forum on Peachtree Parkway.

The first incident happened Sunday night inside a Barnes and Nobles bookstore. Police said a man approached a 20-year-woman who was looking at magazines.

According to a police report, the man said, "She is the one. It is meant to be."

The report said the man grabbed her by the arm and tried to drag her out.

"As she was being dragged towards the door, customers saw this they heard her screaming and they intervened," said Cpl. Jake Smith with the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh spoke to some of those customers over the phone. They said even after they stepped in, the man held on. He took off before police arrived.

Wednesday afternoon, Gwinnett County Police officers were on alert, patrolling the outdoor mall.

Police said fear of the man is developing a pattern. They said he approached two more women since the bookstore encounter.

Tuesday night, he approached another with another bizarre message.

"He felt that God had chosen her to be his significant other, his wife," Smith said.

Kavanaugh spoke to one of the victims over the phone who says at first she didn't think twice when a man drove up right next to her and began talking to her in the parking lot.

"If I would have stepped one foot closer to the car he could have like grabbed me," The 17-year-old said, who was visiting from Tennessee and thought the man needed directions.

"This guy pulls up like really close to the car and rolls down the window. He's like, 'Hey excuse me do you know where the Mall of Georgia is?'" the woman said.

Customers Kavanaugh found said the Shops at the Forum is the last place you would expect to hear a story like this.

Police believe they are looking for a man witnesses describe as having brownish-skin, black hair, balding, about 5-feet 9-inches tall. They said he is in 20s or 30s and was wearing khaki shorts and a white shirt.

Police ask if you encounter the man to call 911.

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WSBTV