Man exposing himself to women in Old Town Burien

BURIEN -- It's crude and offensive and it happened Dec. 9  in Old Town Burien.

"It's very scary, kind of scary to think about because we are women and there's really no males here so he thinks it's an easy place to target,” Skinperfect employee Mystere Ryder said.

As soon as the man walked in the Skinperfect shop, the owner knew something was wrong.

She'd seen him before.

"The guy had come into the store about a week earlier and at the time the lady who owns the business just kind of felt odd about why he was there." King County Sheriff’s deputy Jason Houck said.

He left that time without bothering anyone but last Tuesday, he came back.

"The gentleman came in and before she knew it he was basically flashing her and she you know got scared, grabbed the phone, called the police,” Ryder said.

The man took off but surprisingly neighbors saw him back on the block a short time later.

He had changed his appearance and deputies couldn't catch him.

The suspect is an African-American 17 to 22 years old, average height, a slim build, short hair or a shaved head. He had a medium complexion with under-the-skin acne. He wore slim wire-rim and black glasses and both ears are pierced.

"People are concerned but I would say, not panicked,” business owner Robert Simpson-Clark said.

Robert Simpson-Clark owns Jay Lauris jewelry right across the street.

He believes lack of services has more to do with this, than criminal intent.

"We watch out for each other, try to make sure that uh we don't invite bad problems but I think most people here are fairly willing to presume that this is behavior goes back to some kind of mental disorder,” Simpson-Clark said.

"Somebody who is willing to do something like that in public, certainly we would like to figure out why that is and who that person is and have a chat with him and stop them before it does escalate,” Deputy Houck said.

Experts say if you find yourself in a situation like this make noise, be vocal, yell for help, remove yourself from the situation and call 911 with a good description as soon as possible.