WASHINGTON – Several men have exposed themselves to riders on Metro trains since August and police need help identifying the suspects.
Between Aug. 28 and Oct. 6, four men flashed passengers on Red and Green line trains and then ran once the train doors opened. Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik says the incidents appear to be unrelated, but there may be more victims.
“Oftentimes you will see an individual accused of one crime who does it multiple times. So there could be other victims out there that we could be unaware of,” Pavlik says.
While there has been an increase in the number of flashing reports during the past few weeks, it could be that passengers are simply reporting the crime more often.
“I think sometimes it’s just customer awareness. That’s what we want to see. That’s why we launched our sexual harassment campaign over a year ago. Because we want our customers to make us aware of these incidents. Mass transit is a great opportunity, unfortunately, for people who want to commit these types of crimes. We want people to report it because we can’t stop it if we don’t know about it.”
Pavlik says indecent exposures can be a gateway to other violent crimes.
“This crime might escalate to forcible touching or groping and escalate to some type of physical assault. That’s why it’s important that we address this as soon as possible,” he says.
The latest incidents happened in the morning, afternoon and evening.
“These individuals look for victims of crimes. It could be mental issues, it could a whole bunch of reasons why they do it. But we’re seeing it at all times of day, all times of night. Weekdays, weekends. It doesn’t really matter. We’re not seeing a pattern or trend. It’s very sporadic,” Pavlik says.
If riders see anything suspicious while riding Metro, Pavlik has tips on how to be a good witness. “Try to remember what railcar you’re on. Try to get a great physical description. Anything you can do to help us identify the perpetrator.”
There were no cameras in the railcars during these incidents but cameras inside the stations captured the suspects as they exited the trains. The new 7000 series railcars that will be phased in starting next year will have surveillance cameras.
“It’s another layer of security that we’re providing to our customers,” Pavlik says.
Cameras will be installed in some existing cars but they are still being tested.
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