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Crime & Safety

Village Flasher May Have Been Repeat Intruder; Town Hall Meeting Planned

Authorities say the man who exposed himself to a University Village mother Monday may have entered two other apartments in the past week. Village staff have scheduled a Town Hall meeting for Friday night.

A man who entered the apartment of a woman home with her two children on Monday and exposed his genitals may have gone into two other University Village apartments in the past week, authorities said Thursday. 

In all three cases, the man identified himself as a University Village maintenance worker to gain entrance to the apartments, according to a statement released Thursday by the University of California Police Department. 

The man is described as white and in his 50s, about 6 feet tall with a thin build and thinning gray hair; he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and khaki pants. 

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Village staff have scheduled a Town Hall meeting to allow residents to discuss the issue on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Four Corners Room in the Village Community Center: "At this meeting, University Village Officials, UC Police Department, and University Health Services representatives will be available to present on safety in the Village" and answer questions. 

In Thursday's statement, police said they received two additional reports of similar circumstances after Monday's case came to light. 

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In one, police said a resident reported that she allowed a man she thought was a maintenance worker into her residence on Friday at 5 p.m. when he said he needed to look for a water leak: "After looking in each room of the apartment the suspect left."

On Monday at 3 p.m., a man who identified himself as a maintenance worker rang another female resident's doorbell and said he was looking for a water leak. She let him inside and followed him "as he walked through each room in the apartment. He then exited the apartment."  

Police said the man did not expose himself in either case. 

At 3:45 p.m., the man knocked on another woman's door and provided a similar story. Police said the woman was home with her two children. The man said he was there to do repairs, so she let him inside. 

"The suspect proceeded to walk around the apartment as if he were about to do repair work. The suspect asked the victim if he could use her restroom which the victim granted permission. Upon exiting the restroom the suspect unzipped his pants and exposed himself to the victim."

The woman screamed and the man fled, said police. 

Police ask residents to report suspicious situations by calling the University of California Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau at 510-642-0472 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or 510-642-6760 (all other times).

Police suggested the following safety tips, via University Village staff:

  • All Village maintenance staff wear clothing with their name visible on the shirt.
  • Ask to see their UCB ID before allowing anyone into your apartment if you do not know them.
  • Call the Village office if this is during a weekday to verify the employee works for us: 526-8505 x 210
  • If you are unsure, do not allow them to enter your apartment.
  • Additionally, tell children not to allow anyone in unless there is an adult home. Our maintenance staff will not enter an apartment if there is no adult present.

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If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email her at albany@patch.com.

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