South River police have issued an active arrest warrant for a 21-year-old New York City man accused of exposing himself to residents across a cluster of borough streets in early July. Anthony Lopez, who was visiting South River at the time, has been charged with five counts of lewdness after officers received multiple reports of a man exposing himself in public over a six-day span.
The reports came in between July 2 and July 7, according to Daily Voice, with incidents occurring near Whitehead Avenue, Magiera Street, Spring Street and Jeffrie Avenue. Those streets form a tight residential grid in South River, according to Mapcarta, a layout that helps explain how home security cameras on multiple blocks ended up capturing footage of the same man.
Detectives identified Lopez after reviewing private surveillance video that borough residents provided, then coordinating with the department's Patrol Division and the New York City Police Department to track him down, per a report from Patch. Lopez lives in New York City but was in South River when the incidents were reported, the outlet notes.
Chief Credits Residents and NYPD for Cracking the Case
South River Police Chief Mark Tinitigan publicly thanked investigating officers, the NYPD and the residents who supplied video footage, calling the case a “great example of what can be accomplished through teamwork, persistence, and strong community partnerships,” per the same account. The department regularly leans on resident-shared home surveillance to help build cases and address public safety concerns across borough neighborhoods, per the South River Police Department.
Because Lopez is believed to live out of state, taking him into custody will require New Jersey authorities to coordinate warrant service, and potentially extradition, with New York law enforcement, the Patch report notes. It remains unclear when or where he might be taken into custody.
Police Believe There May Be More Victims
Investigators believe there may be additional victims who have not yet come forward to report earlier incidents involving Lopez, according to Daily Voice. The South River Police Department is asking any victims, witnesses, or anyone with information about Lopez's whereabouts to contact detectives.
D/Sgt. Kenneth Nale, who oversees felony and high-priority investigations for the department, can be reached at (732) 254-9002 ext. 123. Det. Jonathan Torres can be reached at (732) 254-9002 ext. 113. Both detectives were named as public points of contact for the investigation.
What Lopez Could Face Under New Jersey Law
Under New Jersey's lewdness statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-4(a), exposing oneself to a nonconsenting adult is typically charged as a disorderly persons offense, punishable by up to six months in county jail and fines of up to $1,000 per count, and such cases are handled in municipal court rather than county superior court, according to the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall. Police have not publicly specified the degree of each of the five counts filed against Lopez.
The charges could carry far steeper consequences if any of the incidents occurred in front of a child under 13 or a person with a mental disability. In that case, the statute escalates to a fourth-degree crime under N.J.S.A. 2C:14-4(b), carrying up to 18 months in state prison and fines as high as $10,000 per count, according to SKA Law Group. Whether any of the five counts against Lopez involve a minor has not been publicly disclosed, and that detail remains an open question in the case.
South River is a compact, densely populated borough of about 16,118 residents packed into just 2.9 square miles of Middlesex County, according to World Population Review, giving it a population density topping 5,700 residents per square mile. That density means the streets where the reported incidents occurred sit close together, which residents and police alike leaned on as neighbors' cameras helped piece together the case against Lopez.
