North Carolina woman lays out by her apartment pool. Then a man approaches her–and he’s holding something unexpected in his pants

Most people don't think twice about a day lounging by the pool, especially if they're safe and sound in their own apartment complex.

But one North Carolina woman is going viral for finding herself in bona fide danger while attempting to relax poolside.

A tanning session, interrupted

TikTok creator Brynn Horvath (@brynn.horvath) posted a story time about an encounter she had with a fellow patron of her North Carolina apartment complex's pool. Her video now has more than 256,000 views.

“I thought it would be fun, because I'm going to court today, to do a little ‘get ready with me' story time of why I have to go testify in court,” Horvath said. “I was at my pool … by myself, just tanning, right? And I'm actually on the phone with one of my friends, and I just out of my peripheral, see this man, just walking up and down.”

Horvath said he was pacing outside the fence bordering the pool, but that this fence “isn't that tall.”

“You just reach your arm over and press a button and you can get in,” she explained. “It's not insanely secure at all.”

Horvath said she noticed the man, who was wearing all black, staring at her with his hands in his pants as he paced. She said he was “really freaking [her] out,” and she told her friend on the phone that she was “getting a weird vibe” from him.

A man tries to talk to Horvath

Horvath said the man tried to talk to her, so she cautiously put her shirt over her swimsuit and made her way toward him, while still “keeping [her] distance.”

“I'm like ‘Oh, are you okay?'” she said. “I notice he's like, crying, like he looks just distraught.” She said he then told her he was “high as [expletive]” and asked her to let him in so he could splash water on his face. He claimed to live in the apartment complex and he managed to get into the pool area.

“He still has something, like his hand's in his pants, and … I can't even explain the feeling that I got from that,” Horvath said. “Like, the most uneasy feeling. I was like, okay, this man has something. My mind went to gun, knife… I'm about to die.”

Horvath said the man continued to silently stare at her while pacing back and forth. But then, things took a dark turn.

“He goes and sits down, has his hands in his pants, walks over to the pool, takes something out of his pants, dips it in the pool, and I'm like, what the [expletive]?” Horvath said. “It looked dark … He then proceeds to walk over to me …  Whips out his [expletive] and what he had in his hand … Uh, an artificial [expletive], if you know what I mean. And just starts jerking it at me.”

Horvath escapes and the cops get involved

Horrified, Horvath said she ran away, leaving all her belongings behind. She escaped into the pool's clubhouse, accessible only via an app for residents.

“I know he couldn't get in there,” Horvath said. “He then proceeds to start following me, still jerking it. I'm like running away to the clubhouse, and I'm like screaming, like, please put your [expletive] away, sir … and I was the only one around. No one else was around, no one heard me … So I'm in the clubhouse, and I'm literally shaking.”

At that point, Horvath called 911. Then, she notified her boyfriend. He arrived at the scene before the police did. While law enforcement seemed wary of the man possibly being armed, they did end up detaining him. 

“He flat-out tells the cops he's on drugs,” Horvath said. “So the cops come back to me and basically are like, ‘Well, we'll take him to the hospital, but unfortunately … he will just be charged with public [expletive] and it's just a misdemeanor.' And because no one else was there, they couldn't arrest him.”

Horvath expressed fear. She said that as she was “standing right in front of him when the cops [were] talking to him,” he knew she'd called the cops on him.

“I'm like, ‘Oh, so when he gets released from the hospital, he could easily come back,'” she said. “Awesome.”

Horvath finished her video by saying it had been two months since the incident. She said she was about to go “testify on stand.”

@brynn.horvath Court today #pocketpussman ♬ original sound – Brynnhorvath

The court date

In a follow-up video that has more than 28,000 views, Horvath updated her viewers about how the court date went.

“He didn't take the plea deal, so now we're going to trial, baby,” Horvath said. “Actually insane.”

Horvath said she was in court “for over three hours,” and that thanks to his attorney, she and the man didn't exchange any words. In court, he repeatedly pleaded “not guilty” and denied all charges. She added that his case is progressing to a formal trial.

“We're going to trial because he's denying to ever show his [expletive],” Horvath said. “Which is [expletive] crazy.”

Horvath said she found it unnerving to share a space with him for so long.

“It was scary, I'm not gonna lie,” she said. “He was sitting right kind of next to me, and it's crazy how they let us in the same room … He was just staring at me the whole time. Like it was actually crazy that they allow that, but we're here.”

Commenters expressed sympathy for Horvath, but many encouraged her to “keep showing up,” as “the case can be dismissed for ‘want of prosecution'” if she doesn't attend the trial. Horvath expressed a determination to see the case through to the end.

“I can't wait to get him,” she said.

Buzz News reached out to Horvath via TikTok comment.