JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man exposed himself this week in the children’s clothing section of a Walmart store in Jacksonville, according to an incident report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Police said they responded around 7:10 p.m. Tuesday to the store on Atlantic Boulevard at Kernan Boulevard after receiving a report of an indecent exposure incident.
Courtney Ewing, a Jacksonville mother, told News4JAX that the man initially followed her into the store.
“I noticed he was walking in shortly after me, but again, I didn’t think anything of it,” she recounted.
According to the police report, the woman made her way to the children’s clothing section of the Walmart where she noticed the man standing near her while exposing and inappropriately touching himself. She said that she shouted at him and that he then ran off to the exit of the store, according to the report.
Ewing said she immediately notified employees and JSO. When her husband arrived, she said, she jumped into his truck.
“As he was driving, he was, like, ‘Hey, this is what he was wearing, right?’” Ewing said.
She said she began recording the man on her phone. Ewing shared with News4JAX a photo of the man, whose face News4JAX has chosen to blur because he has not been arrested, and video of her confronting him.
“Hey, pervert,” she can be heard saying in the video. “What are you doing?”
She said also called JSO again as the man took off toward a nearby apartment complex.
“My husband jumped out of his truck and started chasing him into the woods, and then I call the nonemergency back, and I’m, like, ‘Hey, now my husband is going after him. Y’all need to get down here,’” Ewing said. “It took them almost an hour to get there.”
The police report shows the man got away.
Ewing said she was told by employees that the cameras inside the Walmart didn’t capture the incident.
On Friday, News4JAX reached out to JSO, which said it’s working to identify the man who Ewing captured on video.
According to JSO records, there was a similar incident at the same Walmart involving a man exposing himself in front of a different woman around 1:50 p.m. June 30.
At this time, JSO said, it can’t confirm if the same man is involved in both incidents.
Ewing said she is traumatized and angry after Tuesday’s incident. She said she hopes the man she confronted is located soon.
“I just don’t feel comfortable going out by myself anymore, especially with my kids,” she said. “I am so angry.”
No arrests have been made.
According to JSO, when a misdemeanor is reported and the only witness is the complainant or victim, it would be up to the State Attorney’s Office to determine if charges can be filed.
Ewing hopes anyone with information will call JSO at 904-630-0500.