Cree man alerts police about man following hitchhikers on Val d'Or highway
Police investigating complaints about man hiding by road
Quebec provincial police are looking into complaints that hitchhikers are being followed by a man hiding in the bushes at the east end of Val-d'Or.
That stretch of Highway 117 is a popular spot for hitchhikers heading to Lac Simon, Senneterre and other communities.
Wayne Rabbitskin of Nemaska alerted police after he picked up two hitchhikers on Sept. 6 who told him they were being followed by a man lurking just off the highway.
"It's as if he is looking for an Aboriginal woman, an Aboriginal girl. That is what I want to warn people about," Rabbitskin said.
Rabbitskin went looking for the man, and took a video of what he saw: piles of clothes and other belongings strewn among the bushes.
He also caught a quick glimpse of someone running in the woods. That's when he decided to call the Sûreté du Québec.
"I don't think they really took it seriously when I told them," Rabbitskin said.
"They knew about it already and I told them that the guy was still there."
After sharing his video on Facebook, Rabbitskin contacted the Val-d'Or Native Friendship Centre with his concerns.
"I think Wayne [Rabbitskin] did the right thing in asking people to be vigilant," said Sharon Hunter, director of social development at the Friendship Centre.
"It's creepy. These people can be vulnerable."
Hunter said the Friendship Centre works closely with the SQ's Aboriginal liaison officer, a position created in the wake of allegations last fall that some SQ officers had abused Indigenous women.
"Val-d'Or's not a big town, so let's put a stop to it right away."
SQ spokesperson Marie-Josée Ouellet says the investigation is ongoing.
with files from Celina Wapachee