CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) – Detectives do not believe a rash of recent indecent exposure reports in Chesterfield County are connected.
The latest incident happened when a flasher exposed himself Tuesday night to someone in the parking lot of the Towne Plaza strip mall, which is near the intersection of Courthouse and Midlothian.
According to Chesterfield police, a man wearing short black track shorts and a dark-colored jacket had the door open to his black SUV when exposed himself. The man then drove away.
The suspect is described as a white male, about 5 feet 11 inches tall and 185 pounds with a stocky build and brown hair. The SUV was possibly a GMC.
Worried Workers and Shoppers
"It's awful and it's scary,” Yvonne Fallon, who works at the shopping center where the crime happened, told CBS 6 reporter Sandra Jones.
Fallon said she had no idea about the crime that happened so close to where she works.
“I think that maybe if you have that kind of mindset and you want to upset people it will develop into other things as well," Sue Saunders, who shops at Towne Plaza.
According legal experts, indecent exposure typically does not lead to physical contact. However, there is still a chance that an indecent exposure could lead to sexual assault.
That has Fallon asking for more police presence in the area, especially at night when workers and shoppers are walking to their cars.
Five Other Cases
Here's a breakdown of what happened during the five other recent reports.
Police said a woman reported that she saw a man masturbating inside a champagne-colored SUV in the 9700 block of Midlothian Turnpike parking lot near A.C. Moore on Jan. 21 around 2:20 p.m.
The man was described as a white male, about 35 to 45 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 175 pounds with a thin build and blue eyes.
The day before, a woman said a man in a black SUV drove up to her and exposed himself. It happened Jan. 20 around 1:25 p.m. in the Fresh Market parking lot in the 1200 block of Huguenot Road.
That suspect was described as a white male, about 35 to 45 years old and 6 feet 2 inches tall with an average build. He had long, shaggy, sandy-colored hair and a mustache. He was wearing jeans and white shirt.
Tanner Crone, of the 900 block of Hampton Meadows Lane, was arrested and charged with Sexual Display: Masturbation, Actual/Simulated in connection with an incident on Jan. 19 around 5:45 p.m. in the 7700 block of Hampton Summit Court.
Another flashing happened on Jan. 16 at 4 p.m. in the 900 block of Walmart Way when a woman said she spotted a man masturbating in a car parked next to hers when she got into her vehicle. The incident was reported on Jan. 21, and a suspect was identified by police, but the victim opted not to cooperate with police.
Another incident happened around 5:15 p.m. on Jan. 14 in the 8100 block Clovertree Court when a man driving a black sedan exposed himself while in his vehicle to a victim.
The suspect was described as a white male, about 6 feet tall and 170 pounds, with very short cropped hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt. The sedan was possibly a Lexus.
Detectives are still investigating any possible connection between the unsolved cases. However, the suspect and vehicle descriptions vary from incident to incident.
If you have information that could help police, call Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660.
