St. Paul teen helps nab her alleged stalker

Stalked for months, a St. Paul teen played it smart to evade her pursuer, switching the coats she'd wear and changing her routes home from her school bus stop.

But luck and good timing come in handy, too -- and it all came together for the 14-year-old on Monday, police said.

The girl, walking home with a friend in their East Side neighborhood, again saw the green car with the "chubby-faced white man," authorities say. The girls flagged down a police officer, and as they shared with him a license plate number that the 14-year-old had written on her hand, the man swung by one last time.

"There he is. There he is. In the green Chrysler," the girls shouted.

Taken into custody was Robert J. Holman, 53, of Woodbury. On Tuesday, he was charged in Ramsey County District Court with aggravated harassment.

The criminal complaint says that he had followed the girl in his car more than 20 times since December.

The suspect, in an interview with police, said that he was having marital and sexual problems, and that he needed counseling, the complaint said.

He declined a Star Tribune request for an interview Tuesday.

'Very smart girls'

Police Cmdr. Shari Gray, head of the department's sex crimes and family violence unit, said Tuesday that the two girls did all the right things Monday.

By being observant? Wary?

"Yes -- and go on your instincts," she said. "They knew this was a situation that wasn't safe."

The complaint said that she also told her father, who along with his sons and an uncle, escorted the girl home in an unsuccessful effort to see her pursuer.

On Tuesday, it was unclear whether the family also had contacted police earlier.

Monday's incident took place about 4 p.m. near Payne and Geranium avenues. The suspect, circling the block, motioned for the girls to come to the car. They continued on, and then spotted the officer, who stopped Holman about two blocks away.

When the officer asked him "what was going on with the kids," he replied that he was "killing time and messing with them," the complaint said. He also promised to never return to the neighborhood, but the officer arrested him.

During the drive in the squad car, the complaint said, Holman "repeatedly said that he was sorry for what he had done."