Indecent exposure suspect wanted by Mesa police
Mar 5, 2014, 11:51 PM | Updated: 11:51 pm
Police in Mesa are searching for a suspect who is thought to have been involved in a rash of indecent exposure incidents ranging from January 2012 to February 2014.
According to police, the suspect was investigated in an attempted sexual assault in west Mesa in January 2012. During the incident, the suspect allegedly gained access to the apartment of a female victim, where he exposed himself but fled before completing the assault.
Since that occurrence, the man — described by Mesa police as a thin black male in his early 20s — could have been involved in similar incidents, with several reports of a male suspect exposing himself and masturbating in front of women in apartment complexes in the same area.
“The problem that you have with that is obviously that also can lead to someone breaking in, (resulting) in a sexual assault type of situation,” Mesa Police Department media relations detective Steve Berry told KTAR on Wednesday.
A release sent out Wednesday by the department details how detectives have been working to identify a suspect, but they’re now turning to the public for help.
“It’s certainly a serious type of crime and someone that we would like to find and get into custody.”
Two of the victims of the suspect’s indecent exposures volunteered information about the man to assist in the construction of composite pictures. In addition to his ethnicity, age and build, police believe the man to be between 5-foot-8 and 6-foot-2 with dark curly hair.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Mesa Police Department at 480-644-2211 or Silent Witness at 480-Witness.