A woman from Canada who has been visiting South Florida for the winter says someone has been leaving hostile notes on her vehicle. Janet Bateman has been trading Canada’s winters for Jupiter’s sunshine for nearly two decades. Bateman said she’s always loved the community and has never felt unsafe. However, she recently became the target of a series of hostile notes.WPBF 25 News reporter Rachael Perry caught up with her on Friday to hear more about what Bateman has been dealing with.”I’ve been coming here since 2008. Last year, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, so I did not come because I was in treatment. I felt so grateful to get back here this year, and on the golf course, like I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I’m golfing,” she said.Every Wednesday, she goes golfing with her friends at the Golf Club of Jupiter. On Wednesday, Feb. 25, she followed her typical routine.”I backed my car into the parking lot so the golf guys could come and grab the bag very easily, and when I got back to my car, he put the bags in the car, and I drove away. There was something flashing on my windshield, so then I went home and pulled the note off, and went, what?” Bateman said.The note on her windshield included one line telling her to get out of the country and referred to her as a Canadian low-life communist. Bateman said she quickly realized the person who wrote it must have noticed her Ontario license plate.”The first note really shook me, but then I thought, oh, this is so stupid, and I was going to rip it up, and I thought, no, I’m going to just put it in my little golf bag,” she said.She said she showed the employees at the golf club, but nothing came of that. Bateman went back to Canada for a few weeks for a medical scan. When she returned, she said she couldn’t wait to get back to the golf course.”I parked my car forward this time and told the bag guy, and he said, I’ll watch your windshield for you. I was right by the front,” she said.Bateman returned to her vehicle to find a piece of paper rolled up and placed in the handle of her truck.”I opened the car to get in, and there’s the note, and I’m like, what?” she told WPBF.The note was longer this time and more hostile, but included similar rhetoric about Canadians.”I thought maybe somebody’s following me. So that gave me a little bit more of a fright,” she said.Bateman said she brought the note to the front desk of the golf club, and again, nothing came of it.”I went home, and I thought about it a little bit, and I just thought, no, I have to report this because if I ignore two notes, and then there becomes a third note, then I’m just as guilty of letting it happen,” she said.She decided she would go file a police report.”I felt kind of silly going into the police office, but they were great. They said it is harassment. The fact that they’re typed up is intent, and actually, it’s hunting, because you’re looking for a plate that is not a Florida plate,” Bateman said.In a community she loves so dearly, she said she’s shocked to be targeted this way.”I would never turn around and say something negative about an American, and I feel like we’re neighbors. I feel like we’re pals, and I just, I really don’t understand the hostility. I really don’t,” she said.Bateman said she came to WPBF 25 News wanting to warn the community if the person writing the notes is targeting others or if their behavior escalates.”They’re getting longer. It’s definitely uninformed and not very well written. I want to dismiss it because of that, but you can’t dismiss that there’s an intent and the fact that you’re looking in a parking lot for plates, so that’s harassment, and repetition is harassment. I don’t know who this person is. I could write them off as harmless, but I don’t know,” Bateman said.She hopes whoever is writing these notes will instead spend that time educating themselves.”I would say get informed, number one, and what is it that you’re afraid of? What is it that I’m doing, or any Canadian by that matter, what is it that we’re doing?” she said.A spokesperson for the Jupiter Police Department told WPBF 25 News they are actively investigating these incidents. Anyone with information on who is writing the notes or anyone who has also received one is asked to contact the JPD at 561-799-4445.
JUPITER, Fla. —
A woman from Canada who has been visiting South Florida for the winter says someone has been leaving hostile notes on her vehicle.
Janet Bateman has been trading Canada’s winters for Jupiter’s sunshine for nearly two decades. Bateman said she’s always loved the community and has never felt unsafe. However, she recently became the target of a series of hostile notes.
WPBF 25 News reporter Rachael Perry caught up with her on Friday to hear more about what Bateman has been dealing with.
“I’ve been coming here since 2008. Last year, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, so I did not come because I was in treatment. I felt so grateful to get back here this year, and on the golf course, like I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I’m golfing,” she said.
Every Wednesday, she goes golfing with her friends at the Golf Club of Jupiter. On Wednesday, Feb. 25, she followed her typical routine.
“I backed my car into the parking lot so the golf guys could come and grab the bag very easily, and when I got back to my car, he put the bags in the car, and I drove away. There was something flashing on my windshield, so then I went home and pulled the note off, and went, what?” Bateman said.
The note on her windshield included one line telling her to get out of the country and referred to her as a Canadian low-life communist. Bateman said she quickly realized the person who wrote it must have noticed her Ontario license plate.
“The first note really shook me, but then I thought, oh, this is so stupid, and I was going to rip it up, and I thought, no, I’m going to just put it in my little golf bag,” she said.
She said she showed the employees at the golf club, but nothing came of that.
Bateman went back to Canada for a few weeks for a medical scan. When she returned, she said she couldn’t wait to get back to the golf course.
“I parked my car forward this time and told the bag guy, and he said, I’ll watch your windshield for you. I was right by the front,” she said.
Bateman returned to her vehicle to find a piece of paper rolled up and placed in the handle of her truck.
“I opened the car to get in, and there’s the note, and I’m like, what?” she told WPBF.
The note was longer this time and more hostile, but included similar rhetoric about Canadians.
“I thought maybe somebody’s following me. So that gave me a little bit more of a fright,” she said.
Bateman said she brought the note to the front desk of the golf club, and again, nothing came of it.
“I went home, and I thought about it a little bit, and I just thought, no, I have to report this because if I ignore two notes, and then there becomes a third note, then I’m just as guilty of letting it happen,” she said.
She decided she would go file a police report.
“I felt kind of silly going into the police office, but they were great. They said it is harassment. The fact that they’re typed up is intent, and actually, it’s hunting, because you’re looking for a plate that is not a Florida plate,” Bateman said.
In a community she loves so dearly, she said she’s shocked to be targeted this way.
“I would never turn around and say something negative about an American, and I feel like we’re neighbors. I feel like we’re pals, and I just, I really don’t understand the hostility. I really don’t,” she said.
Bateman said she came to WPBF 25 News wanting to warn the community if the person writing the notes is targeting others or if their behavior escalates.
“They’re getting longer. It’s definitely uninformed and not very well written. I want to dismiss it because of that, but you can’t dismiss that there’s an intent and the fact that you’re looking in a parking lot for plates, so that’s harassment, and repetition is harassment. I don’t know who this person is. I could write them off as harmless, but I don’t know,” Bateman said.
She hopes whoever is writing these notes will instead spend that time educating themselves.
“I would say get informed, number one, and what is it that you’re afraid of? What is it that I’m doing, or any Canadian by that matter, what is it that we’re doing?” she said.
A spokesperson for the Jupiter Police Department told WPBF 25 News they are actively investigating these incidents. Anyone with information on who is writing the notes or anyone who has also received one is asked to contact the JPD at 561-799-4445.