Florida woman says her ‘Spidey senses’ went off at Walmart after 2 men from gas station followed her to the store. She makes a split-second decision

A Florida woman is warning other women to trust their instincts after she says two men followed her from a gas station into a Walmart and then out to the parking lot. Whitney, who posts under the username @brokenbutgrafted on TikTok, shared the story in a video that has been viewed more than 388,000 times.

Whitney said the incident happened at a Walmart off Cortez Road in Bradenton, Florida. She had stopped to get gas and go shopping. While pumping gas, she noticed two men sitting in a car nearby, watching her.

She said she brushed it off at first, since she has experienced men staring at her before. But the same car ended up parked a few spots from hers at Walmart, and one of the men later crossed her path again inside the store.

Woman describes tracking the men’s movements through the store and parking lot

According to Whitney, she shopped through several sections of the store, including home goods, kids’ items, electronics, and food. While walking down the cereal and granola aisle, she noticed one of the men from the car nearby. She said he was on his phone speaking Spanish, was not holding a cart, and did not appear to be shopping.

About 10 minutes later, as she was leaving through self-checkout, she said she saw the second man checking out with only a water bottle. She said he was also on his phone, wearing sunglasses and a hat. Whitney said, “Spidey senses are going off, I’m like, I don’t know about this,” so she slowed down to let him walk ahead of her rather than exit at the same time.

She said the man walked out the main exit while she deliberately walked back through the store to leave through a different exit, near the garden section, where she had parked. She said the man turned and made eye contact with her as he left, and she got the sense he was surprised she had not followed the same path. The fear of being followed after a suspicious encounter is a shared concern, as a New Jersey woman reported a man followed her home from a gas station. 

Whitney said she checked her surroundings and her car before getting in. She said the man had circled around the outside of the building and was standing near the main entrance, still on his phone. She said he made eye contact with her a second time and then began walking toward her, “not running or anything, just walking casually.” She said she loaded her belongings into her car and left quickly.

Whitney said that after leaving Walmart, she did not drive straight home. Instead, she called her sister and husband, drove around for a while, and later pulled over to check the underside of her car for a possible tracking device. She said she found nothing and confirmed her car was fine. Her husband also checked the car again later that evening, according to Whitney, and found nothing unusual.

In a follow-up video on TikTok, Whitney addressed questions from commenters asking why she did not call the police, ask a Walmart employee to walk her to her car, carry a weapon, or take photos of the men. She said she has friends who work in law enforcement and believes police could not have done much since the men had not committed a crime. She said, “They might take a report, they might write it down to make me feel better, but at the end of the day, they can’t do anything.”

Whitney said she did not ask a Walmart employee for help because she felt safe enough to walk to her car on her own. She said she carries mace and is legally allowed to carry a concealed weapon in Florida, but did not have one on her that day. She also said her husband works at a car dealership and that she is familiar with vehicles, which is why she felt comfortable checking under her car herself instead of taking it to police.

As for not taking photos, Whitney said the situation moved quickly and her focus was on getting to safety. She said, “I wasn’t thinking I need to get my phone out and take videos and take photos and be a content creator at the moment. I was thinking get your a– out of the store and be safe.” Doubts about police intervention in such situations are common, as a Texas woman saw three men following her at Walmart and police later revealed who they worked for. 

In a third TikTok video, Whitney responded to a commenter who said women should not go out alone. She said women should not have to live in fear or rely on men to handle every situation, but should instead learn to stay alert and protect themselves. She said, “There is no reason for us to not do anything, to have the man go and do everything for us, or for us to step out every single day living in fear that we can’t live our lives to the fully.”

Reactions in the comments section were largely supportive. One commenter wrote, “Nooo..you are not overthrowing or overreacting!! There’s a reason we women have these ‘spidey senses’!!! You handled this perfectly. Thanks for posting, that’s MY Walmart!!!”

Another commenter wrote, “You are not overthinking God gave you a sense of awareness. Always trust your gut. That’s God protecting you please be careful sister.” Whitney replied, “Thank you for this.” A different commenter wrote, “Human trafficking is just getting worse. Good for you being aware and protecting yourself.”

Some commenters also questioned parts of Whitney’s account. When one asked why she did not have Walmart security walk her to her car, Whitney replied, “I explain why in another video right after this on on my page.”