SANFORD, Fla. – Police arrested a man for exposing himself inside a local department store while following a customer.
It was caught on video inside the Bealls store across from the Seminole Towne Center in Sanford on Dec. 6.
From the start of the security video, it is obvious the man on the video does not want to get caught doing something very wrong. He is seen looking around, lowering his hand and then hiding behind a rack of clothes.
A woman walks past, unaware of what he was doing. Then, he steps into view of the camera, and it becomes obvious what was going on.
Police arrested Dwight Eddington for indecent exposure after the store security guard told authorities the suspect "appeared to have been following a customer inside the store" while touching himself.
Other shoppers wondered if anyone noticed what he was up to, but said the act is "pretty disgusting."
Eddington had nothing to say to Local 6 when we found him at home, but to police, he denied touching himself and said he "had an itch and had to expose himself in order to scratch."
"I'm going in to shop. I don't think about someone following me around and watching me," said one shopper who did not want to be identified. "That's really creepy. He might follow me home."
The scenario worries women, and for good reason. Local 6 has learned he's no stranger to crime. Police arrested Eddington in October for allegedly strangling someone in a domestic violence case.
The exposure case at the Bealls has been handed to the State Attorney's Office for further review.
Eddington reached out to Local 6 and said that he did expose himself and that was "wrong and stupid." He said that he had an itch and that he looked around and figured no one would see him scratching. He said he was not following anyone nor touching himself in a sexual way.
"I am not a monster, I'm just not that guy," Eddington said in an email to Local 6.