Man charged with exposing himself at Westgate Park

Regular running by two undercover female police officers helped investigators make an arrest in an indecent exposure case at Westgate Park.

Dothan Police Sgt. Rachel David said officers arrested Adam Christopher Ash, 23, of Midland City, and charged him with two misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure.

“We did have female officers running on the trail undercover and collectively they ran over 100 miles. I did have a confrontation in the Kiwanis (park) parking lot,” David said on Monday. “There was an incident this morning, and he will be charged with indecent exposure from this morning.”

David said police received nearly a dozen indecent exposure reports at Westgate Park during the month of July alone. Most of the offenses reportedly occurred between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., and that’s when police made the arrest Monday during a traffic stop.

“What really brought our attention to the case was the sheer number of calls,” David said. “Over the last month and a half we’ve had numerous reports of a man exposing himself at Westgate Park.”

David said investigators from the criminal investigation division continue to work the case with the possibility of more charges being filed. But she also said Ash apparently admitted to being involved in the incidents at the park.

Ash was taken to the Dothan City Jail and held on $1,000 bail.

“He has banned him from Westgate Park,” David said.

David encouraged anyone victimized during an indecent exposure incident at Westgate Park to come forward and report it to police. Anyone with information about similar incidents at the park can call Investigator Cpl. Clark Allums at (334) 615-3647 and Sgt. Will Glover at (334) 615-3640.

“We felt certainly we were dealing with one particular individual,” David said. “Westgate Park is a beautiful trail, and just because we have taken this person into custody we do encourage people to run in groups and take a cell phone.”