Man exposed himself to students near Rocky Hill school, officials say

ROCKY HILL, CT (WFSB) – An adult male exposed himself to students in Rocky Hill on Thursday, according to school officials.

Superintendent Mark Zito said the indecent exposure happened near the high school tennis courts on Mountain View Drive.

Two secondary school students reported the incident, officials said.

The superintendent said the suspect was parked in a dark colored vehicle.

Officials gave an update on the vehicle.

Police said an individual driving the vehicle evaded police on Friday morning.

The vehicle was reported stolen from the owner on August 1, police said. It has license plate #BB-11505.

Rocky Hill police will be increasing patrols near the schools.

“While nobody should ever be subjected to witnessing this type of conduct, we commend our students for reporting this information to school officials and our police partners,” said Zito.

Zito said any suspicious activity should be reported to school officials or school resource officers.

Spencer Chester, a Rocky Hill resident, says this neighborhood is filled with kids and many of them walk to class.

“It’s mostly kids. We live in an apartment building down the way and pretty much has mostly families, some very very young,” said Spencer.

“The fact that this would happen is strange for sure, and right across from the high school. But a lot of families, you feel safe to walk around. Like we are taking a walk right now. So it’s concerning,” said Alexandra Kupko, another Rocky Hill resident.

Experts say these perpetrators always try to blend in and move quickly if they know they’ve been spotted.

Bobby McDonald with UNH says parents should have tough conversations with their kids so when their kids feel unsafe, they run to a safe place to get help and call 911.

“They need to be able to move somewhere safe. If they feel something isn’t right, or their instincts are telling them something bad might be happening, they want to move to a church area, a store, a school lobby,” said McDonald, University of New Haven Lecturer of Criminal Justice. “We need to talk to them about being situationally aware of what’s going on in their neighborhood. If parents are out watching their kids, walking, and looking for vehicles that don’t belong in the neighborhood.”

Police say they will step up patrol near the schools, but McDonald says neighbors need to help.

“It’s happening all over, so I guess it can happen here too. We are not a gated town so we just have to stick together as a community, all together, and for the safety of our kids and ourselves,” said Maggie Janikowski, a Rocky Hill resident.

The incident is under investigation by Rocky Hill police. They say an arrest has not been made.

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