EL CAJON, Calif. (KGTV) - A woman claims a religious group has been acting aggressively towards people in and around the Parkway Plaza shopping mall in El Cajon.
Danielle Dredden said she was recently at the mall when two girls ran to her as she made her way to her car.
“I was stopped by two girls [and] tried to end the conversation. I got a distance away and they yelled for me and started running towards me,” Dredden said.
According to Dredden, the girls spoke to her about “Mother Mary,” but they surrounded her closely as they spoke.
“I’m lucky and I’m happy I was able to walk away, but the thought of ‘what if it went differently and I wasn’t able to,’ that’s what’s terrifying to me,” Dredden told 10News reporter Mackenzie Maynard.
Dredden said she has had other encounters with the group before, but she never told anyone -- until she heard her supervisor describe a similar situation at the mall.
Dredden posted on Facebook that four men from the same group tried to take her supervisor’s daughter, but she fought them off and got away.
After the post, several other people responded and said they had similar experiences.
“That’s when I decided, ‘OK, I’m not crazy.’ Then, once I saw the outpour, I was like, ‘Wow, it’s very common and it’s not OK,’” Dredden said.
While Dredden did not file a police report, she said her supervisor’s daughter did.
El Cajon police confirmed to 10News they are investigating the matter, but they did not provide any further information.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office told 10News they checked with Human Trafficking Task Force (HTTF), "They have no data to show any trends there, but the HTTF often mentions that malls in general are a place where kids hang out so recruitment happens there."
