Window peekers nabbed

Shortly after midnight yesterday morning, Lincoln police officers were summoned to an apartment building in the 800 block of S. 18th Street, where a resident had made a disturbing observation.  She saw a man standing outside below her window with his genitals exposed, engaging in some extrapanticular activity.

Upon arrival, the officers spotted the suspect and the foot pursuit was on, down the street, between the houses, through the alley.  Eventually the officers caught up to the suspect, who put up a bit of a  a struggle that required some force to bring him into custody.  He was jailed for indecent exposure, trespassing, failure to comply, resisting arrest, and disturbing the peace.

A little later, way across town in the Williamsburg neighborhood the story repeated itself. A women saw the same type of activity underway outside of her apartment, and called 911. The only difference is that this guy was shod only in a pair of shoes. When the first officer arrived, he took off across the lawn, jumped the creek, and was ultimately taken into custody on the nearby Tierra-Williamsburg trail, where he was attempting to retrieve the remainder of his wardrobe.

Although it is unusual to have two cases so similar unfold in such quick succession during the wee hours Monday morning, window peekers like these are more common than people realize. Nor are these incidents necessarily a one-time thing: many peekers and exposers are doing this regularly, although neither of these defendants had been caught doing so previously in Lincoln.  They are not all harmless, either. I have plenty of anecdotal evidence from specific cases, and I'm even a published author on the issue.

Nice work by the fleet-footed officers who won the night at the races. Oh, and I refuse to refer to window peekers as "peeping Toms".