'Lewd,' inappropriate acts lead to more violent crime, Fayetteville police say
Fayetteville police are seeking more severe punishment for people who perform lewd, inappropriate acts in public.
In May, indecent exposure incidents occurred in downtown Fayetteville near the WRAL Fayetteville newsroom and across the city, leading to several arrests.
Justin Chaplin, 27, Rodeny Valoy, 35, and Malik Tuff, 23, were each charged with indecent exposure after incidents reported at Sam's Club, TJ Maxx and BJ's in late-May. Surveillance video and tips from community members led to the arrests.
In mid-May, a woman witnessed a man believed to be 24-year-old Anthony Munoz performing a lewd act near WRAL's Fayetteville newsroom on Hay Street. According to the woman, who did not want to appear on camera, the man's pants were "wide open" when he made eye contact and spoke to her.
Police are still searching for Munoz after video footage from a private school across the street caught the man in the act. Since the incident happened across from a school, Munoz is facing felony charges.
"I feel disappointed that he's still on the loose," said the woman. "It worries me that he could be doing the same thing to anyone else ... this was just done in front of a school, so it's frustrating, and I just want to get him off of the street."
Todd Joyce, Fayetteville's assistant police chief, said lewd acts can be stepping stones to more serious crimes.
"They could progress to a sexual assault where someone could be raped," Joyce said. "So we have to do our due diligence as investigators to find these persons and go ahead and get them at this point before it continues to escalate to something else."
Police want the public to report similar incidents by calling 911. Calling 911 helps investigators identify a potential suspect as quickly as possible.
Anyone with information about these or other incidents is asked to call Fayetteville Police Department’s Special Victims Unit at 910-433-1529 or Crime Stoppers at 910-483-8477.
