Police Searching For Man Who Followed Female Driver, Flattened Her Tires

DRAPER, Utah — She was followed, harassed and in the end, she had her tires flattened by a stranger.

A 20-year-old woman shared a harrowing story Tuesday that she said began at 10:30 p.m. the night before on Interstate 15.

“I got over and I checked my blind spots like I always do — there were no cars,” Marissa Gibler explained of the moments before getting off I-15 at 12300 South Monday night. “(A car) was speeding up and I was just doing the speed limit and he flicked his lights on at me and I think he wanted me to get over and get out of his way, but I was about to get off the freeway, too.”

Gibler said the car pulled up alongside her and the occupants began to flip her off before proceeding ahead to make a right-hand turn on 12300 South.

“He was going to go right, I was going to go left,” Gibler said. “When he noticed, he got behind me and started following me.”

The woman took a left and then a right on Minuteman Drive as the car, described as a dark-colored or black Subaru Impreza, continued behind her.

When she could go no further on Minuteman Drive, Gibler said she turned into a neighborhood of condos, hoping to find an exit onto another street.

VERY scary ordeal for a driver who was followed by another car in Draper. Somebody eventually got out and flattened her tires. Story TONIGHT @KSL5TV at 10p #KSLTV #Utah pic.twitter.com/IXK1tXLUz0

— Andrew Adams (@AndrewAdamsKSL) January 20, 2021

“I got stuck at the dead end,” Gibler said. “They parked behind me.”

At that point, Gibler said a man believed to be 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11 wearing an orange hoodie and orange mask got out of the vehicle and came up to her window.

“He just like bent down, tapped on my window, stared at me for a second,” she explained. “I’m looking at him back and I’m on the phone. It’s like, ‘Help!’”

The man apparently had a metal object in his hand and Gibler said he used it to flatten her two rear tires as he left.

“It’s crazy,” she said.

Gibler believed the same Impreza showed up again minutes later on an adjacent street as she dialed police. She said the two occupants appeared to watch her.

“All my doors were locked,” Gibler said. “I had my Gerber — that has the knife on it — in my hand the whole entire time.”

She said the men exited the Subaru and ran out of sight, apparently leaving the car behind. She said it remained there until after she left the area, but it was not immediately visible in the neighborhood as of Tuesday afternoon.

Officials with the Draper Police Department said that the case was being referred to detectives and they were hoping to find those responsible. Anybody with information was asked to call dispatch at 801-840-4000.

Gibler said she believes what happened was probably due to road rage.

“I was like, ‘I can’t believe this just happened,’” Gibler said. “I’ve never had anyone follow me like that.”