Crime & Safety

SouthSide Man Exposed Himself at Wawa, Police Say

Frederick Cruz-Hernandez, once convicted of peeping at Lehigh University co-eds, is accused of exposing himself to a woman in convenience store parking lot.

 

A South Bethlehem man is accused of masturbating and exposing himself to a woman in the parking lot of the Wawa convenience store at E. Broad Street and Stefko Boulevard, according to court papers.

Frederick Cruz-Hernandez, 42, of 420 Cherokee St., was arrested Tuesday and charged with indecent exposure and open lewdness.

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According to court records, the incident happened on March 14 at about 8:15 a.m. The victim told police that she was sitting in her vehicle at the rear of the convenience store when she noticed a man standing and facing her and masturbating over the outside of his gray sweatpants.

The woman said she was disgusted by the man’s behavior, but used her cell phone to video it so she could report the incident to police, the arrest affidavit says.

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Then according to the affidavit:

  • The man walked away, but returned “moments later” when he parked a tan Ford Ranger next to the victim’s vehicle. He got out of the truck, pulled down the top of his sweatpants, exposing his genitals to the victim.
  • The woman told police she felt like she was in danger, so she drove away to report the incident.
  • Bethlehem police tracked Cruz-Hernandez down, using the victim’s descriptions and by using her video and surveillance video of the Wawa parking lot. The victim then picked Cruz-Hernandez out of a photo lineup.

According to The Morning Call, this is not the first time Cruz-Hernandez has had run-ins with the law for this kind of behavior, in a series of incidents that earned him the nickname the “Lehigh Stalker.”

In 2005, he pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and burglary for peeping through the windows of Lehigh University co-eds and, in some cases, entering their homes as they slept. Two of his victims said he had exposed himself to them.

Cruz-Hernandez was arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Patricia Romig-Passaro and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail.


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