PLANTATION, Fla. – A North Lauderdale man faces a charge of aggravated stalking of a minor after a 14-year-old girl told police she saw him parked near her house at least twice and, at one point, asked for her phone number.
According to a Plantation police arrest report, the girl’s mother reported seeing 38-year-old Rajpaul Bridgemohan’s Mercedes parked across from the family’s house on Northwest Seventh Court on Halloween night for nearly than two hours.
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Investigators wrote that the girl told her mother that she saw Bridgemohan and his vehicle before, prompting her to call police, the report states.
In the first case, roughly six months prior, the girl said Bridgemohan had been parked at a nearby church, waved her over and asked for her telephone number, police wrote.
The girl called police, who told Bridgemohan to leave the area, the report states. The girl told officers that Bridgemohan’s reoccurring presence caused her “emotional distress” and kept her from “feeling safe at home.”
In the Halloween incident, police said that after responding to the scene, Bridgemohan immediately exited his car with his cell phone.
According to the report, when an officer asked him why he was parked in the swale, he dialed his phone and said he needed to make a phone call.
The officer wrote that Bridgemohan was “sweating, shaking and avoiding eye contact” and told someone over the phone that he was “finalizing his divorce after 17 years.”
After hanging up, he advised that he parked in the neighborhood because he was “distraught” about the divorce and was on his way home from his attorney’s office in Hollywood, saying he pulled over to make phone calls, the report states.
He told officers that a resident gave him permission to park on the swale.
That resident, however, told officers that while Bridgemohan did ask her to park outside her home, his stated reason for being there had nothing to do with a divorce, which records show was finalized in May 2021.
“Bridgemohan stated to (her) that his children were trick-or-treating in the neighborhood and he was waiting for them to finish and meet him there,” police wrote.
According to police, Bridgemohan maintained to officers that he came from his attorney’s office and told police he had only been parked for “a few minutes.”
When the officer told Bridgemohan that residents told them that he had been there for nearly two hours, he told the officer that he “may have lost track of time,” police said.
“I asked Bridgemohan why he was in the area, as neither his residence, place of employment, nor his lawyer’s office are nearby,” the officer wrote. “(He) advised that he chose to park in this particular neighborhood because his uncle lives close by. I asked where his uncle lived and he stated ‘on Marcano Drive,’ which is nearly 40 blocks west.”
When asked about the distance, Bridgemohan claimed he uses Northwest 46th Avenue as a shortcut, police wrote.
“I asked Bridgemohan if, while cutting through, he had ever pulled over at locations within the area and he denied doing so,” the officer wrote. “I stated the events as described by (the child’s first incident). Once presented with that scenario, Bridgemohan suddenly recalled the first incident.”
Police said Bridgemohan confirmed he was parked near the church and was approached by Plantation police officers, but denied ever trying to get the girl’s phone number.
The officer then asked Bridgemohan about what he told the neighbor on Halloween when asking for permission to park there, the report states.
“Bridgemohan stated her told her he was parking there waiting for someone he needed to pick up,” police wrote. “He stated he lied to her because he was embarrassed about the divorce. I advised Bridgemohan that the resident said he told her that he was waiting there for his children, who were trick-or-treating. (He) denied ever saying this to her.”
While searching Bridgemohan during his arrest, police noted that they found a Trojan Magnum condom in his left pocket.
“Bridgemohan could not explain his intentions (regarding) the presence of the condom in his pocket, further indicating the child’s fear was well-founded,” the officer wrote.