By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-14 03:26:39 | Updated at 2024-11-22 07:13:01
1 week ago
A popular bookstore has shut its doors after an alleged stalker left the owner fearing for her life in a saga with an eerie similarity to the Netflix show You.
Nia-Tayler Clark opened her dream business BLACKLIT - a black owned and community-oriented book shop - in Farmers Branch in 2022.
However, she said running the operation became a nightmare after an unnamed man who lives in the apartment complex attached to the building has began harassing her in January.
Fearing for the safety of her employees, family and herself, Clark reported the man to their mutual landlord, filed a police report and even obtained a restraining order.
'He is purposely intimidating our employees, our guests. He stands outside and paces our windows. He adjusts his body to make sure we see him and know he's there,' Clark told CBS Texas.
Texas bookstore owner Nia-Tayler Clark (pictured) said she was forced to closer her business after being harassed by stalker
She said the unnamed man (pictured) lives in the apartment complex attached to the building
'He's trapped me behind a register. He would not let me leave. Most of it is alcohol-induced. He always comes in with a cup usually. You can tell he has been drinking.'
Clark told NBC DFW he has made sexually charged comments such as, 'I'm going to be here every day until you no longer have a man,' and 'You don't know what you're missing out on.'
In the first season of the Netflix hit series You, actor Penn Badgley plays bookstore manager and serial killer Joe Goldberg who becomes infatuated with aspiring writer Guinevere Beck, played by Elizabeth Lail. Clark's experience has a disturbing likeness to the fictional plot.
In once instance, the man allegedly crashed an all female bible study being held at the store and Clarks terrified employees sent her concerning messages.
'He started going on and on about how he just got out of jail. He has been arrested 30 times this year, but he always gets out,' the worker's texted Clark.
'He left once we turned off all the lights in the store and crouched together and by the time my boyfriend came he was gone and we all made it to the parking lot safely.'
Clark said even her young son began to notice and would try to defend her.
In once instance, the man allegedly crashed an all female bible study being held at the store
'I started watching him jump. When I started — he started carrying a baseball bat. Like, "Ma, is that him? Is that him?" That's not a way for a kid,' she said.
She made the decision to temporarily close the shop and relocate her family, but hopes to return to Texas soon.
'It really felt like a dream come true and an answered prayer, and so for it to just be snatched away because of one man has definitely crushed my heart and a lot of other people's,' Clark said.
'Honestly, it was a big burden to bear, the responsibility of the safety of all these individuals inside of BLACKLIT, myself, my son.
'I just keep trying to remind myself this is not a goodbye, it's a see you later. I'm the type of person who likes to finish what I start.'
