Or maybe he drives a commercial truck/van that makes deliveries to stores/malls in the area. That would make him know the area even better. And he would have a vehicle that would have a legitimate reason to be in the area
Yep. That would work.
This makes alot of sense. No one would pay any attention to a marked delivery truck and the driver would know the area.
However, I am still puzzled as to what the motive would be.