A man covering himself in camouflage sheets was beaten by female joggers and reported to police over a YouTube stunt that was an “intimidating and sick prank”.
The man, dressed in a ghillie suit (used by soldiers, wildlife photographers and hunters), has been hiding in the bushes on a popular running trail in Sydney and filming the terrified reactions of joggers and others passing by as he They saw it.
Melanie Warman, founder of the women’s running club Boobs on the Run, was shocked by his actions and warned club members about the man on social media.
“Looks like someone thinks it’s fun to dress in camouflage and jump on women at Bay Run,” he wrote on Facebook.
“I’m sure you wouldn’t find it funny if this happened to your mother, sister, daughter or wife… Or the fact that two women were attacked last week while out running.”
A man covering himself in leaf camouflage (pictured) was beaten by female joggers and reported to police over a YouTube stunt that was an “intimidating and sick prank”.
Warman also noted that “36 women have been murdered in Australia since January 1, 2024 by male violence.”
Local mayor Darcy Byrne reported the man to New South Wales Police on Friday.
“The council has officially requested an investigation by the police, which they are carrying out,” he told Sydney Morning Herald.
‘Tens of thousands of women use Bay Run every week, so if it’s meant to be a joke, it’s a bad joke and is actually scary and intimidating.
“I don’t understand what kind of person would have fun doing something designed to be scary.”
Byrne’s response came after many runners and walkers who use the trail in Sydney’s inner west posted on social media that the man had scared them.
Professor Sarah Weston, however, took matters into her own hands and turned the tables on the man by filming him.
Walking with a friend, she approached the man and asked, ‘What are you doing?’
He responded as if he was surprised that he was being criticized for what he was doing, saying that he wanted to “scare people” and “make people laugh.”
He said he was filming interactions with people with a nearby hidden camera and intended to post them on YouTube.
Through the false leaves only the man’s nose could be seen.
Mrs Weston wrote about her instagram account that there was a hidden camera filming us.
The man was wearing a ghillie suit (pictured), used by soldiers, wildlife photographers and hunters.
‘I could not avoid it. I wanted to ask before she jumped on us…
‘It turns out it scares people. Film their reactions. He puts it on YouTube.’
A police spokesman said the man had also been reported by a female jogger who “became frightened when a figure, dressed in a costume, jumped out of the bushes at Bay Run at 5.15pm on Thursday”.
“Investigations have revealed that there may have been further similar incidents, which have not been reported to police, but are circulating on local social media forums.”
