Good samaritan helps catch alleged flasher in south Edmonton

EDMONTON- An Edmontonian who helped police catch a man who was allegedly exposing himself to women in south Edmonton is sharing his story.

Around 8:30 Friday morning, police were called to area of 75th Avenue and 115th Street to investigate a report of a man allegedly exposing himself- the third such incident in the area within 24 hours.

Good samaritan James- who didn’t wish to have his last name published- says he was driving to work in the area, when he saw a woman on the sidewalk trying to get his attention.

“I opened my window and she came up and she said ‘this man just flashed me in the alley,'” James explained Saturday afternoon.

James then drove into the alley and saw a young man. James got out of his truck and tried to chase the man but, he took off running down the alley and got away.

James called 911 and drove around the neighbourhood for a short period of time, before deciding to wait in the alley for police to arrive.

“I was waiting there and this guy comes walking back down the alley and it’s the same guy, and I thought ‘there he is!’ So I hid behind a fence with my dog until he got about 30 feet away and I said ‘come one Dex, let’s get him’ and started running and the guy bolted,” James explained.

Police arrived at that moment and followed the man and arrested him. A 16-year-old male has now been charged with three cases of indecent act/exposure.

“I think it’s a responsibility in society to step up. If we all turned a blind eye to what’s going on then these kind of guys get to wander around out there,” James said. “It’s a better world, another bad guy off the streets.”