The University Police Department is searching for a man who exposed himself two different times on campus Thursday. The incidents occurred within five minutes of each other Thursday around 8:30 a.m.
UPD Chief Calvin Sellers urged members of the community to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity.
“I would just tell everyone to call us if they see anything strange going on,” Sellers said. “Be aware of your surroundings and try not to be alone, especially at night.”
The suspect is described as a black male in his early 20s, between 5-feet-6-inches and 5-feet-8-inches tall and approximately 250 pounds, according to a UPD release that was emailed to all students, faculty and staff members at Ole Miss. He was wearing a gray beanie Thursday, has shoulder-length hair and was driving a blue or black older model Cadillac De’Ville, Buick or Oldsmobile.
In August 2011, a white male was arrested for similar crimes on campus. He exposed himself on campus three times over two days and was arrested shortly after. Sellers said that these two incidents are not related in any way, and there is no regular pattern of similar incidents on campus.
According to the 2013 Mississippi Code, “a person who willfully and lewdly exposes his person, or private parts thereof, in any public place, or in any place where others are present, or procures another to so expose himself, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction for a first offense, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or be imprisoned not exceeding six months, or both.”
While some students joked about the incident on social media Thursday, Sellers stressed the importance of trying to keep the public informed during incidents like this.
“We have an obligation to alert the community of potential danger,” he said. “The crime alerts we send out are meant to keep people aware of what is going on in order to keep them safe.”
— Adam Ganucheau
dmeditor@gmail.com
