Chandler police hunting serial flasher

Chandler police canvassed the neighborhoods near the Western Canal on Tuesday evening, asking residents for their help in identifying a sexual predator who has eluded them for three years and has graduated from exposing himself to his victims to masturbating in front of them.

Although police are relieved that the balding White man with short hair and a beer belly has not touched any of his victims, they are concerned that he is no longer satisfied by stripping naked early in the morning and waving at women jogging or walking along the canal in hopes of shocking them for some sort of sexual gratification.

"It's a crime of opportunity for him. Any woman who is walking by, he is exposing himself to her,'' said Chandler police Detective Ashley Nolan of the Special Victims Unit. "We have seen him progress on from exposing himself to masturbation.''

Nolan said the unknown man has become more aggressive and dangerous. She said she believes he is looking for excitement, which makes police concerned about whether he might eventually commit sexual assault if he is not arrested.

"We consider these incidents as the acts of a predator, and it's serial,'' Nolan said. "I think anyone who commits these offenses, there is a concern about the mental state.''

The balding flasher has bedeviled Chandler police for three years. Police have documented nearly 20 incidents and fear that there may be many more that have gone unreported. The unknown flasher was active in 2012 and seemed to disappear for most of 2013, only to reappear with similar behavior in 2014 that appeared to stop in October, only to reappear in early June.

"A woman this morning said, 'Yeah, that guy did that to me last year,' '' but the woman never filed a report, said Chandler police Sgt. Joe Favazzo, a department spokesman.

"Some people don't take it too seriously and ignore it," he said.

Police launched a media blitz on the long-simmering case Tuesday, admitting they are frustrated after exhausting all investigative possibilities.

"Is this guy going to commit other sex offenses? What's going to happen next, is he going to go hands on? It's time for this to stop,'' Favazzo said.

Favazzo declined to go into too much detail, but he said police have devoted a lot of time and effort into catching the flasher.

"We have used numerous different types of surveillance and investigative techniques,'' he said, but still, the police do not know the offender's identity, even though they think he probably lives or works in the area.

The unknown offender has struck on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., along the Western Canal between Arizona Avenue and Dobson Road, a popular area generally for jogging, walking and bicycling. The incidents were first reported in January 2012, with the flasher either nude or partially clothed. He is described as a balding White man, 40 to 60 years old, 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall, with a pot belly.

A list of incidents released by police Tuesday reveals an erratic pattern, with the flasher striking eight times in 2012, once in 2013, eight times again in 2014, and twice recently, on June 1 and June 8.

Police have no explanation for the flasher's long hiatus between incidents, from Oct.17, 2014, to June of this year. One problem with identifying the suspect is that he has been separated from his victims by the width of the canal.

In an attempt to generate more tips and to put more heat on the unknown man, police went door to door throughout the area late Tuesday afternoon, distributing wanted posters and asking the public for their assistance in obtaining information that might lead to the man's identification and his arrest.

Sylvia Martinez, who used to enjoy riding her bicycle along the canal, said she has stopped doing so after hearing about the sex offender.

"It's a popular place,there are a lot of people jogging'' or walking with their children, she said. But after hearing reports about the sex offender, " I was nervous about it.''

Deborah Barnaby, who sometimes jogs after the sun goes down, said she is worried because there are a lot of children in the neighborhood. She thanked two detectives for telling her about the sex offender.

"He's not going to stop me from living my life,'' Barnaby said. "I have to be more aware of my surroundings.''