Two 23-year-old women were walking home on the 400 block of Hawthorne Street just after 2 p.m. Saturday when Sadeghi, who was in a Mazda Protege, drove up next to them, according to a police report.
The women told police they thought Sadeghi was going to ask them for directions, but he instead allegedly exposed himself and started masturbating. The women immediately called police, providing a description of Sadeghi, his car and a few license plate numbers.
An officer, who heard the description, saw Sadeghi driving on Chevy Chase Drive near Brand Boulevard and stopped his car.
When the officer pulled him over, he noticed a stain on Sadeghi’s blue shorts, which were partially pulled down, exposing his buttocks, according to the report.
Sadeghi reportedly told the officer that he saw the women and made a U-turn because he wanted to say “Hi” to them.
Once he drove up to the women, Sadeghi told the officer that he placed his hand on his penis.
Sadeghi told the officer that the stain was from having sex with his fiancee three to four days ago. His pants, he said, were pulled down because he had a hernia.
The women identified Sadeghi at the crime scene, according to the police report.
People who expose their genitals to others are generally looking for attention, Lorenz said.
“In some cases, they don’t want to get caught, and some hope they may,” he said.
Women and children who are approached by exposers should walk away and report the incident to police, Lorenz said.
“Your recollection of the description of the individual, and possibly the description of the license plate and vehicle, will certainly help us in apprehending the individual,” he said.
Women often don’t report indecent exposures because they are embarrassed or don’t think it’s important, “but they need to report it so we can actually see these people ridden from our community,” Lorenz said.
Paula Devine, chairwoman of the Commission on the Status of Women, agreed.
The city’s Camp Rosie has been teaching young girls during the summer how to protect and take care of themselves, she said.
“I don’t know if they could ever prevent something like this from happening, but they could be able to get away or defend themselves against things like this,” Devine said.
Those who have been victims of indecent exposure, or who may have more information on previous incidents, may call detectives in the Assaults Unit at (818) 548-3106 or Crime Stoppers, (818) 507-STOP.
VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.
