Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Man tells police he exposed himself to women all over St. Louis County

A Hazelwood man is charged with two counts of sexual misconduct, after telling police he's been exposing himself to young women all over St. Louis County.

Hazelwood Police Chief Carl Wolf says his cases do not exactly fit the description of similar incidents in Brentwood and Webster Groves, but he says a suspect is off the streets thanks to good police work and the courage of victims to come forward.

Kevin Hake, 30, was arrested Tuesday night and is being held in the St. Louis Country Jail. Police say he first exposed himself September 20 to a 19-year-old woman at a gas station in the 5200 block of Howdershell Road, just across the street from two schools.

"She got the license number, called us," says Wolf. "We tracked him down, arrested him that night, and kind of figured that because there were no priors or anything, it was an isolated incident."

Then on October 29, a 15-year-old girl said a man drove up to her outside of McNair School in Hazelwood made a sexual comment and exposed himself to her. She reported the incident to police and that's when a Hazelwood officer remembered the first incident.

The girl was asked to look at a photo line-up of suspects.

"It took her about two seconds to say that's him," Wolf says. "So, you know, good observation and that's what solves crimes."

Chief wolf says Hake confessed to the incidents.

"He said, 'I've been doing this all over the county,'" Wolf says. "And that's one of the reasons we contacted Webster Groves. And he said, 'Yeah, I've got a problem.'"

The chief says the case was solved because the victims came forward.

"What I would like to see here is if anybody else has been a victim to contact us or to contact their local police department because the more incidents we can put on this individual the better off it will be," Wolf says.

Police say Hake told them he lives with his parents and works for the St. Louis County Highway Department. He's being held on $5,000 cash bond.

Webster Groves police are questioning Hake, but again, Chief Wolf does not think these incidents are related to incidents there.