‘It’s Karen’s cousin!’ Cyclist says she was harassed at her gated community in Florida
A Palm Beach County woman’s bike ride hit a rough patch when she says she was harassed by a neighbor.
On July 14, Roz Joseph posted a video of a disturbing encounter: A yet-to-be identified man called police on her for exercising around her gated community in the Lake Worth Beach area.
The man in the clip, shot by Joseph on her cellphone, demands to know what she is doing there. Joseph at first refuses to tell him that she lives there.
“You have no right to ask me any questions,” she says. “I don’t have to answer any questions.”
The individual accuses her of not living there, nor being a guest of someone..
The two continue to exchange words on the bike path for a few more minutes. Exasperated, Joseph yells in Creole.
Then: “How about you go police somewhere else?” she says. “You got the wrong one, and I got time today.”
The man keeps repeating that the cyclist doesn’t belong there.
“You’re riding around on a bike in a community you don’t live in,” the man repeats. “I haven’t seen you before.”
The man gets on the phone with what appears to be law enforcement agency, saying, “She really has no business here” and is “possibly looking at open garages.”
As his phone conversation continues, Joseph interrupts, yelling, “Look, it’s Karen’s cousin!”
The South Florida woman’s roughly four-minute clip drew both the many of the poster’s friends’ and followers’ ire.
The married mother of two recently updated the post informing them she had also called the cops.
“My husband & I had to call officers as we wanted the incident documented. No crime was committed [at that point he went back home], so they were unable to do anything but did advise on how to move forward if we continue to be harassed.”
Joseph also contacted her homeowners’ association asking for this incident to be addressed..
On Tuesday, she told the Miami Herald that she is still awaiting a personal response from the HOA board and property management company. They did, however, send out a letter that no one should approach another resident and that the actions displayed by the man in the video were “not appropriate,” Joseph said.
The Miami Herald reached out to the HOA property manager and has yet to hear back.
