Highlands Ranch – Elaine Wortham doesn’t know whether to be fearful or repulsed, but she said she wouldn’t mind a face-to- face encounter with the serial flasher who is stalking her neighborhood.
“I have two dogs very capable of true criminal justice,” she said, tugging on the leashes that kept two Labrador retrievers at her side. “And they’re just the right height.”
At least five times in the past year, a husky white man in his 30s or early 40s, between 5-foot-7 and 5-10, has exposed himself to women in Welte Park, police say.
Two weeks ago, a 59-year-old woman was enjoying the park – off Laguna Circle near Gleneagles Village Parkway – when the man approached her, pulled his shorts aside and exposed himself before running away. He was wearing a cap and sunglasses, but she could see he had black or brown hair with grayed edges.
The incidents are troubling in this family-rich neighborhood. A late afternoon this week was punctuated by the sounds of squealing children, a vacuum cleaner whirring through an open window and the sweet smell from a barbecue grill wafting in the breeze.
“It makes me sick to my stomach,” said Mike Silver, as he walked with his daughters. “What gives him the right? We have single mothers, retired women and children everywhere over here.”
Alicia Smith said she has started to carry Mace with her. “I wouldn’t hesitate to use it,” she said.
All of the incidents have occurred in the late afternoon, though the perpetrator has not approached children or tried to put his hands on the women – at least not yet, said Lt. Alan Stanton of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Exposing one’s genitals is the highest level misdemeanor, punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
“The sheriff’s department is very aggressive when it comes to prosecuting these kinds of offenders,” Stanton said.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-820-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
