WESTFIELD – Two teenaged girls said they were “terrified” Tuesday evening when they were followed by a man who, unbeknownst to them, had been arrested for charges including open and gross lewdness the day before.
Det. Brian Freeman reports that he had observed Eddie Camacho, 27, of 129 N. Elm St., “traveling strange routes and interacting with teenagers as they passed him” in the downtown area.
Camacho was of particular interest to Freeman because he had been arrested Monday in a North Elm Street restaurant after he had allegedly exposed himself to customers and staff.
In that incident, officers Patrick Shea, Douglas Lavalley and Kerry Paton had responded to a complaint of indecent exposure.
Lavalley reports that when the officers arrived an employee pointed out Camacho and said that he had exposed his genitalia to her when he had been in the restaurant that morning.
The employee said that a co-worker had alerted her that a man near the door was exposing himself and said that, when she looked, she saw the man had exposed himself and was looking directly at her while masturbating, causing her to be “shocked and alarmed”.
Later in the day, both a customer and an employee called police after the man returned.
The customer said that the man had attempted to follow her into a restroom and was waiting with his sweatpants down and his underwear exposed when she emerged.
Camacho was arrested at the restaurant for two charges of open and gross lewdness and for a charge of disorderly conduct.
Arraigned in Westfield District Court on Tuesday, Camacho was released on his personal recognizance pending a June 11 hearing. He was also arraigned on an unrelated charge of criminal harassment and was again released on his personal recognizance pending a June 11 hearing.
Freeman reports that he and Det. Scott Phelon had seen Camacho downtown Tuesday evening and monitored his movements for about 45 minutes. Freeman said that the man had been walking very slowly but “increased his pace dramatically”, as the detectives watched, to follow “two teenaged looking girls” walking northbound on Elm Street.
Freeman reports that, as Camacho “closed the gap between himself and the girls quickly”, they noticed him following them and crossed the street as they approached the Great River bridges. The girls crossed the southbound span and, with Camacho following, they ran to the northbound bridge where they “sprinted south to get away.”
Freeman stopped Camacho, who had turned around to follow the girls south, but he reports Camacho “denied even seeing the girls.”
Camacho was detained while Freeman summoned a uniformed officer to reassure the girls who were visibly shaking and said that they were “terrified.”
They told Freeman that Camacho had not said anything to them but, he reports, said “the way he was acting terrified them and caused them to run away.”
Freeman reports “After watching how Camacho acted for about 45 minutes I have no doubt that his intentions were to do something to the girls that he was following.”
In the absence of any overt criminal act, Camacho was sent on his way but he came to the attention of police again yesterday.
Detectives Roxanne Bradley and Anthony Tsatsos spotted Camacho on North Elm Street and saw that he was staring at a young woman waiting at a bus stop. He didn’t approach the woman but the detectives monitored his movements until he returned to his apartment.
Also yesterday afternoon, a neighbor contacted police to report concerns about Camacho.
The man, who said that he was aware of Camacho’s arrest the day before, said that he was concerned because he had seen the man staring at his wife and daughter recently and was worried about their safety.
