A 29-year-old Cliffside Park man already facing four counts of criminal sexual contact from a June groping spree is now accused of pulling down his pants and exposing himself outside a Fairview restaurant late Tuesday night. Eric Humberto Soria arrived at the Anderson Avenue restaurant at approximately 10:45 p.m. on August 25 and peered at a waitress through the glass front windows before exposing himself, according to authorities.
Fairview Deputy Police Chief John Pierotti said Soria pulled down his pants while peering at the waitress through the restaurant's windows, an account first reported by Daily Voice. Soria was charged with lewdness and was released following the arrest, according to authorities. The charge marks the second time in as many months that Soria has faced accusations of public sexual misconduct along the same commercial corridor.
A Pattern Along Anderson Avenue
The August incident came roughly two months after Soria was arrested in June following alleged groping incidents in both Fairview and neighboring Cliffside Park. In that earlier case, a woman reported that a man riding an electric one-wheel board slapped her buttocks near Anderson Avenue and Henry Street in Fairview. Fairview police spotted Soria the day after the reported groping, and he was taken into custody, according to the same outlet's reporting.
During questioning, Soria admitted to the Fairview incident as well as two additional incidents in Cliffside Park, leading to four counts of criminal sexual contact. Cliffside Park police also investigated similar groping incidents in their jurisdiction as part of the broader pattern. Authorities separately looked into a possible similar incident at Braddock Park in North Bergen, though it remains unclear whether that case was ultimately connected to Soria.
Why Soria Was Free to Begin With
The fact that Soria was out in public at all when the August incident occurred traces back to how New Jersey handles pretrial release for lower-level offenses. Under the state's Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2017, cash bail was eliminated in favor of a risk-assessment system that includes a presumption of release without bail, subject to conditions based on assessed risk, according to the Law Offices of David Jay Glassman. That framework helps explain why Soria remained free on his June charges when the Fairview lewdness allegation surfaced.
Under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-4, a flagrantly lewd public act is typically a disorderly persons offense punishable by up to six months in jail and $1,000 in fines, according to Keith Oliver Criminal Law. That same statute escalates to a fourth-degree crime carrying up to 18 months in prison if committed in front of a child under 13. Separately, fourth-degree criminal sexual contact under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-3(b) — the charge tied to Soria's June arrest — carries penalties of up to 18 months in state prison and fines as high as $10,000 per count, along with the possibility of sex offender registration under Megan's Law upon conviction, according to Reisig Criminal Defense & DWI Law.
A Shared Commercial Strip Under Watch
Anderson Avenue functions as the central walkable commercial spine linking Fairview and Cliffside Park, lined with dense ground-floor retail, international markets, and restaurants with glass storefronts — the very setting described in the August incident. The Fairview Police Department's headquarters sits at 59 Anderson Avenue, placing officers directly along the same strip where both the June groping and the August exposure allegedly took place. The two boroughs are Bergen County communities that already share close municipal ties, including an educational partnership in which Fairview's K-8 district sends its high schoolers to Cliffside Park High School.
The June case also drew attention to the electric one-wheel board Soria allegedly rode during the reported groping incidents. Those self-balancing electric skateboards were the subject of a September 2023 national recall by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission after the manufacturer received reports of rider ejection hazards linked to four deaths and numerous injuries, according to Pond Lehocky Giordano. New Jersey has since moved to tighten oversight of similar devices: in January 2026 the state enacted regulations reclassifying low-speed personal electric mobility devices to require driver licensing, MVC registration, and liability insurance, with full enforcement beginning in July.
It remains unclear whether prosecutors will seek any change to Soria's release status following the latest arrest, or whether the incident investigated at Braddock Park in North Bergen will be formally linked to the case. Fairview police have not indicated whether additional charges are anticipated.
