Man fails to win woman’s heart by throwing his dog at her
Sometimes people have a funny way of showing they like someone.
Case in point? This Florida man who threw his dog out a car window at woman he thought was attractive.
Howard Van Sweringen, 41, is facing charges of aggravated battery after ramming into the woman’s truck, and tossing his dog through his car window to get her attention, WFLA reported.
Van Sweringen had told police that he wanted to talk to 35-year-old Kristina Fuller “at any cost,” according to the Lakeland Ledger.
His bizarre attempts at wooing Fuller began on Thursday morning after she dropped her daughter off at Lakeland High School in Lakeland, Florida.
“This man, who I never saw before in the car line, cuts in front of the school buses, blocking everything, just so I could get out, so I waved and thanked him,” Fuller told WFLA. “Every turn I was making he was following me.”
Van Sweringen would not give up his pursuit, following the mom to a stop light.
“He got out of his vehicle, came up to my window and threw his dog on me. I thought it was going to bite me or something so I tossed the dog back at him. He got back in his vehicle and started hitting my truck, trying to push it into the intersection,” Fuller said.
She continued to drive, but he got back in his car and tailed her.
“I was trying to get away. He kept coming up beside me, trying to run me off the road. At one point I made a u-turn. He jumped over the median, blocked three lanes of traffic just to get behind me again,” Fuller said. “I was on the phone with my friend crying, I didn’t know what to do.”
After calling police, Fuller turned around and went back to get at the school, where he followed her.
Authorities at the scene took Van Sweringen into custody. He told police that he did not know Fuller, but thought she was pretty and wanted to talk to her, according to WFLA.
“This is something you see in the movies or on TV,” Fuller told the Lakeland Ledger. “Now, it has happened to me.”
In addition to aggravated battery, Van Sweringen was charged with trespassing on school property. The dog he reportedly threw was unharmed and placed in the custody of a relative.