Redwood City police arrested a 51-year-old man on suspicion of indecent exposure Wednesday morning after investigators said he exposed himself to two 12-year-old children near Sequoia Station. Alfredo Chambarleloli was booked into jail on the allegation, which stemmed from a report in the 1000 block of El Camino Real.
According to SFGATE, police received a report that a man exposed himself to the two children near the busy Sequoia Station shopping center. Officers located and arrested the suspect at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, and investigators said they had obtained surveillance footage of the incident to support the case.
How Investigators Tracked Down the Suspect
Police have not detailed exactly how the surveillance footage was used to identify Chambarleloli, but the same report notes it was gathered as part of the investigation into the reported encounter near El Camino Real. The outlet's account does not specify charges, bail, or his custody status beyond the booking on suspicion of indecent exposure.
Under California law, indecent exposure is defined by Penal Code Section 314, which, per California Legislative Information, covers a person who willfully and lewdly exposes their private parts in a public place or anywhere others are present to be offended or annoyed.
A Second Case Reported in Redwood City This Year
This is not the only indecent exposure case Redwood City has seen in recent months. In August, a 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure after an incident reported around 4:40 p.m. on El Camino Real, according to the Mercury News. In that case, officers used a drone to locate the man, and the device reportedly captured his actions; the newspaper said multiple victims, including children, were identified during the investigation.
The same August case involved Marcelo Arancibia, 45, who was arrested and booked into jail after allegedly exposing himself at a Redwood City Caltrain station, as reported by KRON4. Prosecutors said the victims in that incident included women, a 10-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl, and Arancibia remained in custody on $10,000 bail while facing new felony indecent-exposure charges.
Arrests by the Numbers in Redwood City
City data offers some context on how often Redwood City police make arrests. The Redwood City Police Department reports 13,697 arrests over an eight-year span, or roughly 1,700 a year, averaging about five arrests a day, according to the City of Redwood City. Of those arrests, 5,234 came from officer-initiated activity, while 6,973 followed calls for service from the public.
The city's figures also show that only a fraction of activities the department classified as serious or violent crime resulted in an arrest. Of 13,015 activities the department classified as serious or violent crime, just 9% resulted in an arrest, while 8% of property-related, non-criminal activities involved one, the city's data shows.
