Police: Man exposing himself to young children in 2 New Jersey towns

LINDEN, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police in New Jersey are searching for a suspect after four incidents of a man exposing himself to juveniles on the same day.

Two incidents happened Wednesday in the Sunnyside section of Linden, and detectives are checking to see if they are connected to two similar incidents in Roselle Park.

Police say there have been a total of eight such incidents since May, with six occurring in the past few weeks.

In the first incident, which occurred shortly before 3 p.m. on Myrtle Terrace, police say a black vehicle was parked along the curb when the driver called a group of four juveniles, male and female, ages 11 and 12, over to his car. He allegedly exposed himself to them before fleeing the scene.

While officers were investigating this incident, they were informed of a second incident that took place 10 minutes later at Edgewood Road and Summit Terrace. In that incident, a 16-year-old girl was riding her bicycle at the intersection when a dark-colored vehicle pulled alongside her. The driver allegedly called out to her and then exposed himself before driving east towards Orchard Terrace.

"It does occur to us that he is becoming more brazen in his activity," Linden police Captain James Sarnicki said. "Fortunately, he doesn't exit his vehicle and confronts the juveniles any more than just sitting in his car and exposing himself to them."

The driver was described as a white male in his 20s, clean shaven, with short dark hair wearing a dark shirt and blue jeans.

Police released a photo of the car they are looking for, a dark-colored older model four-door vehicle.

These incidents follow an initial incident around 11 a.m. on Warren Avenue in Roselle Park, where two young girls ages 7 and 9 reported that a man with a similar description called them over to his car and exposed himself while they were walking their dog. A fourth similar incident was reported around 6 p.m. on Amsterdam Avenue.

The suspect strikes in residential neighborhoods, and at least one nearby camp is adding safety measures.

"I've been getting a lot of complaints about this guy, the car that he rides in," summer camp counselor Bernie Mabois said. "But nobody can figure out who this guy is. The fact that he's able to come back day after day to do this, cmon."

As a result, Mabois said that now, the counselors walk each of their kids to their doors to make sure they're safe.

"It's just terrible," he said. "It's terrible, honestly, because it's like, what sympathy do you have, or to be doing this in front of kids...who comes to parks to play."

As a result, parents are urged not to let juveniles walk on the street unaccompanied by an adult.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Juvenile Bureau at 908-474-8520 or the Roselle Park Police Department at 908-245-2300.