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Public Safety : Police arrest lewdness suspect

The Syracuse Police Department arrested a man for publicly exposing himself to a Syracuse University student Sunday night, said Interim Chief Tony Callisto of SU Public Safety. The man, who lives near the city and is not a member of the SU community, is also a suspect in an investigation of two other public lewdness incidents in the past four weeks.

At about 10 p.m. Sunday, the student was walking in Walnut Park — the area between Walnut Avenue and Walnut Place — when a car drove by with a man in the window pointing down to his exposed genitals, Callisto said.

When the student reached her destination, she called Public Safety to report the incident. A nearby Public Safety officer was able to pull the car aside and hold the suspect until Syracuse police arrived, Callisto said. The victim positively identified the man at the scene, and he was arrested by Syracuse police and held at the city jail.

The man was also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and was issued a stay-away order from Public Safety that makes it illegal for him to pass on university property, Callisto said. Callisto would not release the name of the man because he said it may compromise the case.

The student was aware of a search for a suspect because of a safety notice Public Safety issued Friday. The e-mail described a lewdness incident Tuesday and described the suspect as male, white, 20 to 25 years old, between 5’9′ and 6 feet tall, and with short, blond hair. The man arrested Sunday generally matched that description, Callisto said.



The notice also identified the suspect was driving either a dark blue Volkswagen or a red four-door sedan. Callisto said the man arrested was in one of those vehicles, but would not confirm which because of an ongoing investigation of the other two lewdness incidents.





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