VERO BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Authorities in Indian River County are searching for a man who has attempted to abduct two women.
Both incidents happened recently in the Pointe West neighborhood near Vero Beach.
People we've spoken with in the Pointe West area say they never felt they would have to worry about something like this.
But sheriff's detectives are trying to get this man off the street before he tries to abduct another woman.
"We're appalled. All of us, never in our wildest dreams would we ever think this would happen," said Deb Halverson, a Pointe West resident.
Indian River County Sheriff's detectives are looking for this unidentified guy, shown in a surveillance video released by the sheriff's office.
They describe him as a masked man with a muscular build, wearing a hoodie.
This month, the guy has tried to abduct two different women in the Pointe West neighborhood.
"It's insane because this is a very safe neighborhood," said Carl, a Pointe West resident who did not give his last name.
The first incident happened on July 2 at about 10:15 at night.
A woman was walking home at the time, near the corner of Pointe West Way and Pointe West Drive.
Deputies say a guy came up to her with a knife, but she was able to get away safely.
About 10 minutes after midnight on July 7th, the same man approached a woman who was walking her dog near the corner of 15th Street and 76th Drive.
She yelled and pushed him away.
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"I'm shocked because nothing has ever happened. We haven't had burglaries, we haven't had carjackings. We have had no issues at all. So it's very unusual that whoever is doing this picked this neighborhood," said Darla Rogge, another Pointe West resident.
"We're 100 percent on this case, trying to find out who this guy is and making sure we get him locked up as soon as possible. This is a very dangerous situation," said Indian River Co. Sheriff Eric Flowers.
We asked an expert on law enforcement about how authorities might try to catch a guy like this.
"When you have an emboldened criminal, you have one of two things that are going on. Either the individual is a sociopath or the individual is either high on some type of narcotics or drugs which is lowering the inhibitions to do this," said Dr. Andrew Scott III, former Boca Raton Police Chief and former North Miami Beach Police detective with 30 years' experience in law enforcement.
Dr. Scott, who now works as a law enforcement consultant, says sheriff's detectives might put together a task force and focus on the area where they predict he may strike again.
He says they may also watch social media to see if anyone is talking about these attempted abductions because such perpetrators sometimes will seek notoriety.
He says they may also put a female undercover officer in that area posing as a decoy.
"This is a very serious incident that's occurring not once but twice and may happen again," Dr. Scott said.
Sheriff Flowers says they’ve upped patrols in the area.
Dr. Scott advises women right now to avoid walking alone at night.
If a woman must be out after dark, he recommends that she use the buddy system and take someone with her, and if you see something or someone looking suspicious, the sheriff says to call 911.