SURVEILLANCE: Photo released of man accused of chasing jogger with knife

ROCK HILL, N.C. — A 20-year-old woman jogging on a Rock Hill street in the middle of the afternoon told police a man was chasing her with a knife.

She was running down Stewart Avenue in Rock Hill last Thursday when she first ran past the stranger.

She said she heard footsteps behind her and saw he was following her.

She looked back again and said the man was running at her holding a knife.

She ran past Laurelwood Cemetery by the former Bleachery trying to get away from him.

The closest place she could get to for safety was a Family Trust Federal Credit Union on White Street.

Police told Channel 9 she did the smart thing.

"She went to a business that was open and went inside, so she did everything right under the circumstances," said Rock Hill police Capt. Mark Bollinger.

A Family Trust spokeswoman told Channel 9 Friday that the woman came in flustered and asked to use the bathroom but said nothing about being chased.

She later called the police, who met her on Ebenezer Road, according the police report.

The incident happened one block from the campus of Winthrop University. 

Erin Sweem jogs that same way all the time.

"This is like a little college area so you just want to feel safe," she said. "It's kind of scary down there, though, because there are all these abandoned buildings."

Other students said the university had not notified them about the off-campus incident, which surprised them. Usually an email is sent out when anything happens that could impact student safety.

"Even when there were robberies at 7-Eleven or Walgreens, we would still get notifications," said Taylor Ouzts, a junior at Winthrop.

University officials told Channel 9 they were not notified about the incident either.

It's not known if the victim was a student, but she told police she exercised in the area all the time.

Students said they were shocked that something that frightening could happen in the middle of the day.

"You don't expect a man to run behind you at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when you're running down the street," said Shelby Alexander.

The man with the knife is 6 feet 3 inches tall and was wearing a black jacket and a Carolina Panthers hat.

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