MOULTRIE — Sometimes it costs too much to ask a stranger for directions.

A Valdosta man trying to get home was robbed at gunpoint and had his car shot at Wednesday afternoon when he stopped for directions at Woodmen of the World Park.

Moultrie Police Investigator Sgt. Seth Walters said Alvin Cowart was in Moultrie and was trying to find his way back to the road. He stopped near WOW Park on Fifth Street Southwest at 1:43 p.m. Wednesday and asked a teen-age black male for directions.

The teen-ager asked Cowart to wait a second while he went to go ask someone else for help, Walters said. When the boy returned, there was a group of young black males with him.

One of the males pulled out a handgun, and Walters said the group demanded money from Cowart. He told the group he did not have any money on him, so they stole his cell phone from him.

Walters said as Cowart was trying to leave the area, the black male with the gun fired one shot at his car, shooting a hole in the hood. Cowart left the scene quickly and met with an officer at the intersection of Sixth Street and First Avenue Southwest. There were no suspects in the robbery as of Friday afternoon, Walters said.