Prince George's County police gathering info on alleged sexual predator

Prince George's County suspected predator caught, but cops want more information

Prince George's County police have arrested a man who they believe has been preying on women in the Hillcrest Heights neighborhood, but they're still gathering more information.

HILLCREST HEIGHTS, Md. - A Prince George’s County woman sounding the alarm about a sexual predator in her neighborhood leads to a man under arrest. Now police want to make sure they speak to every victim.

Naomi opted not to give her last name because of the continued encounters she’s had with a man in a silver car in her Hillcrest Heights neighborhood.

She says they’ve all been in the morning and the first one was in June.

"He drove up to me and rolled his window down. I thought he was going to ask for directions or something and after a few seconds, I realized that he was actively masturbating," Naomi said.

She says she saw the man three more times, the next time in September. After what she saw over the summer, Naomi says she hasn’t looked inside the car during the other run-ins. She shared her story on social media and neighbor apps.

"I found out there were other women this has happened to," she said.

As FOX 5’s Lindsay Watts was covering the story Wednesday in Hillcrest Heights, a man came up to share that the suspect had also exposed himself to his wife.

Naomi says back in June, she called the police non-emergency line to report what happened.

After attending a community meeting in September to draw attention to the crime, she was told she needed to file a police report.

She also provided Prince George’s County police with his license plate.

"Within days of receiving that complaint, the PGPD identified the suspect and applied for an arrest warrant for indecent exposure. A court commissioner issued a summons for him to appear in court," a police spokeswoman said in a statement.

Then on Tuesday, Naomi said she saw the man again.

"I called 911, and as I was on the phone with 911, he actually circled the block three more times where I was standing," Naomi said. "Which is new behavior to me and more scary behavior."

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She also called Prince George’s County Police Major Zachary O’Lare who she says has been a huge help and very responsive.

"Thankfully the victim has maintained an open line of communication with me," O’Lare told FOX 5.

He said the new information allowed police to request a warrant for the suspect.

"The arrest warrant was approved this morning and within hours we were able to take the suspect into police custody," O’Lare said.

Police are not yet giving the man’s name or releasing a photo, they say because they hope more people will come forward.

Naomi is also urging people to speak up as she has.

"I do feel this is more of a sexual assault. I know it wasn’t physical, but especially being a woman, especially having experienced other things along these lines, it’s a very uncomfortable situation," she said. "All I can see and feel about this is escalation if he’s not stopped."

Detectives want to hear from anyone who may have had a similar experience with the suspect.

If you want to speak to an investigator, call 301-749-4901.