WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - A 23-year-old Winter Haven man is behind bars after police say he went on a spree of exposing him;lef to elderly women. One of the incidents happened at Walmart.
According to police, on Thursday at approximately 6:58 a.m., a Winter Haven Police Officer located 23-year-old Jeremy Isaiah Menendez, who had a felony warrant for Lewd or Lascivious Exhibition in the Presence of an Elderly Person from two incidents on February 5 and February 13, 2024.
Menendez was driving in the area of Lake Howard Dr. when the officer spotted the vehicle seen in both incidents. The officer conducted a traffic stop and took Menendez into custody.
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Police say that on February 5, 2024, at 6:36 p.m., Winter Haven Officers responded to a call in the Oakview Circle area of Winter Haven.
The 81-year-old caller said that a white SUV had been circling in the neighborhood and stopped to speak to the victim and her 67-year-old neighbor.
When the victims approached the vehicle, they saw the driver's genitals hanging from his shorts and was described as, "just sitting there playing with himself."
A canvass of the neighborhood was conducted, and the video was taken directly across the street from the victim's residence. The footage revealed the vehicle described by the victim.
Then, on February 13, 2024, at approximately 7:10 a.m., officers were dispatched to Walmart (355 Cypress Gardens Blvd.) when a Walmart associate reported a male in a vehicle approached her, exposing himself.
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The associate was cleaning the parking area when the vehicle drove alongside the 64-year-old female victim and asked about any cardboard boxes he could collect.
As the victim was speaking with the driver, the victim saw the driver's genitals exposed. Video footage obtained showed the vehicle driven by the suspect was a white Toyota Highlander with dark-tinted windows and a white sticker on the rear window.
Investigators were able to identify the vehicle from both incidents and obtain a tag and the registered owner, Jeremy Isaiah Menendez, 389 St Georges Circle in Winter Haven. An arrest warrant was obtained for Menendez after one of the victims positively identified him.
On March 7, 2024, Menendez was located and a traffic stop was conducted for an expired tag. Once Menendez was positively identified and the warrant confirmed, he was taken into custody and booked into the Polk County Jail for Lewd or Lascivious Exhibition in the Presence of an Elderly Person (F3).
"I applaud these victims for being aware of information, such as details of the vehicle, that led to the positive identification of this suspect," said Deputy Chief Vance Monroe. "It's obvious this guy was intent on continuing to display this disgusting behavior and getting him off the street was imperative."
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