DELAND, Fla. -- DeLand police arrested a man Thursday night in connection with the case of a 13-year-old boy who said the suspect exposed himself in a department store restroom.
After interviewing the victim and showing him a photo lineup of suspects, the teenager positively identified Claude Richard Smith, 65, as the man who exposed himself at a bathroom in the Sears store at Volusia Mall.
At about 6:30 p.m., police arrested Smith in the 1700 block of Twin Oaks Drive in DeLand, and he was charged with lewd or lascivious exhibition.
Investigators said the 13-year-old victim reported a man making lewd comments in the restroom of Sears on Aug. 22. The teenager said the man also exposed himself. The victim was then able to run from the facility.
"The kid ran so fast he ran out of his shoes," Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood said.
Police said Smith admitted being in the restroom but said he did nothing wrong.
Smith was taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail on a $2,500 bond.
Police said they believed that other people in the facility may have seen the incident, but so far no one has come forward.
The Sears restroom has been identified on the Internet as a place where men go to engage in gay sex.
"It gives Daytona a bad name," Chitwood said.
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