For the past several weeks, the Tempe Police Department has been investigating a string of incidents where a man would expose himself and masturbate in front of young women at apartment complex pools, and over the weekend, they arrested a guy doing exactly that.
Matthew Marvin Flentge, 43, was busted Saturday afternoon after he was seen masturbating in front of a 24-year-old woman at an apartment complex at 1905 East University Drive in Tempe.
Flentge, a registered sex offender, left the scene before police arrived, but was spotted walking through a different apartment complex by an officer conducting surveillance in response to the string of indecent-exposure cases in the area.
In total, the TPD has identified seven recent incidents of public sexual indecency, or indecent exposure -- all of which have occurred in the last few weeks. In at least four of the incidents, the physical description of the suspect has been the same and could be a match for Flentge.
The suspect in those cases is described as a white male, between 20 and 30 years old, clean shaven, with a medium build and brown hair. He's between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-11, often covers his face with an article of clothing, and may have dark chest hair.
The TPD says, in many cases, the suspect will yell to get the attention of his victims before whipping it out and masturbating in front of them.
According to police, he's already struck the following Tempe apartment complexes: The Quadrangles at 1225 East University Drive; Allegre Community Townhouse/condos at 1886 East Don Carlos Drive; Hayden Square at 154 West 5th Street; University Towers at 525 South Forest Avenue; Cameron Creek Apartments at 1975 East University Drive; Sonoran Ridge Apartments at 1205 East Apache Boulevard, and 330 South Farmer Avenue.
Flentge was booked into the Tempe City Jail on one count of indecent exposure and one count of a sex offender failing to carry identification. Detectives are investigating to determine whether he was involved in any of the other incidents.
