ST. LOUIS (AP) – Police in the St. Louis area want to question a man who has approached several women and convinced them to give him a hug.

The man approaches women in public and claims he and the targeted women are long-lost friends. After a brief conversation he asks for a hug.

Similar incidents have happened at several supermarkets over the past several days. When it happened recently at a Schnucks store in Fairview Heights, Illinois, the woman called police.