LAUDERHILL, Fla. – Residents of Lauderhill neighborhood remained on high alert Thursday, a day after surveillance video captured a naked man touching himself right outside of a home there.
Officers with the Lauderhill Police Department are searching for the man seen outside a home in the La Mirage neighborhood on Inverrary Boulevard West around 9 p.m. Tuesday night.
Homeowner Maurice Richmond said that’s when he got an alert on his phone about the man in his backyard.
“I was like ‘What is this?’” he told Local 10 News on Wednesday. “I called my sister and I was like ‘there is a naked man in my backyard.’”
Resident Christine Thompson described the incident as “very sickening.”
”It does (worry me). It does,” Thompson said. “In fact, I was telling my friend that I was going to invest in some pepper spray because I am out early in the morning and at night with her and I want to try and have something to protect myself.”
Thompson’s lived in the community for 21 years, but she said it’s a first to hear of an intruder making his way through a screened-in patio, only wearing shoes and a shirt and a surgical mask.
“She said that there was a man in the community that was naked and showing himself,” Thompson said.
Lauderhill police said they did search throughout the community, but were unable to find the man. While he remains on the loose, residents are hopeful he will be caught before he tries something more serious.
“I hope they catch the person,” Thompson said.
Richmond said he’s armed and prepared to do what it takes to protect his family.
Anyone with information is asked to call Lauderhill police or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.