A man is now behind bars, charged with flashing local women out for their morning run. Darnell Dukes is charged with exposing himself to women on six Hyde Park streets... all are near Hyde Park Square.
Local 12's Paula Toti says this investigation has been going on for more than a year. Joggers have reported a flasher in Hyde Park and Oakley. Dukes is only charged with cases in Hyde Park in 2011. The detectives were able to pin those crimes on him because on Monday morning he walked into District Two police headquarters and confessed.
For more than a year, the owner of an exercise studio off Hyde Park Square has told her patrons to be aware in light of the flasher and go to their cars in pairs. "Oh it's definitely been a concern. We have a running group and it's a weird feeling that he could be around the corner."
Runners seem to be the target of the flasher. Police say Dukes would drive around the area in his car looking for joggers, then get out, shout at them for attention and then masturbate. Police say when he confessed to the crimes he said he did it for the shock value and need help.
"I thought it was really weird ... glad they caught him." Eric Webber says he warned his girlfriend to watch where she was walking and to lock her doors. Dukes gave police statements that linked him to crimes on six streets. He was actually put in a lineup months ago ... but victims didn't identify him. The joggers say the flasher was wearing a hat or hoodie. Dukes told police he kept his head down to hide his face.
Police believe there is more than one Hyde Park flasher. Police can't say if Dukes committed any other crimes of public indecency. When some of the flasher crimes happened in this area last year he was actually in jail on other charges. And the suspect in those cases was not seen getting out of a car.
Dukes has had a run-in with the law before ... drugs, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.
