Another flashing incident reported near a West Seattle school



SEATTLE -- Cops are on the search for another flasher in West Seattle. A man, sitting half-naked in his car, tried contacting a Denny Middle School student while she was walking on Southwest Kenyon Street, police said Tuesday.

This is at least the sixth report of a case of indecent exposure – and the latest in a string of flashers that began last summer.

This time, the young girl told police she even hid underneath a car to get away from the man.

At about 2:30 p.m. Monday, the girl left school and headed to meet her mother a few blocks away. When she got to 30th Avenue SW, she told police, she saw a man sitting half-naked in his car, touching himself inappropriately and trying to get her attention.

“(She) ran to a nearby house,” said Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt. “She heard the suspect start his car and she then hid underneath a pickup truck because she thought he was looking for her.”

The flasher struck in an area that’s had this problem before. West Seattle has seen several cases of people exposing themselves to school children.

“Detectives will take a look,” said Witt. “They’ll go through and compare their notes and see if there may be a connection between this incident and some of the ones from last year. It’s an open and active case.”

Cops say their suspect was described as a heavy-set Hispanic man driving a small- to medium-sized car with tinted windows – and the car might be missing the front grill.