Man Allegedly Exposes Himself to Woman at Hannaford

A Concord man was arrested and arraigned recently in connection with an incident back in May where he allegedly exposed himself to a customer at a local store.

Charles Yearke, 61, of Concord, was arrested at 4:45 p.m. on July 21, and charged with indecent exposure and lewdness.

According to an arrest report and affidavit, an officer was called to Hannaford on Fort Eddy Road on May 15, for a report of a man exposing himself to others. The man, Yearke, was being held in the loss prevention office of the store with two other employees.

One of the employees alleged that Yearke was in the frozen food aisle, exposing himself. Another employee went to speak with Yearke and asked him to “tuck himself in," which he later did, according to the employee. Yearke was then escorted to the loss prevention office of the store.

The officer asked Yearke what was going on and he allegedly said that he was recording himself with a camera and then showed the officer a small video camera on his key ring. Yearke reportedly told the officer that he was holding a bag in front of his groin area and no one saw him.

Another officer escorted Yearke from the office while an officer eyed the video surveillance from the store. The officer alleged that Yearke was wearing hospital scrubs and was near an unknown female customer in the aisle.

“Yearke did have a bag about 8 inches in front of his groin area,” the officer reported. “He was holding the bag with his left hand. I could see his right hand was out at straight and he was holding what appeared to be his key fob in his right hand.”

The officer alleged that the video showed Yearke moving around the ailse and at one point, “the video showed Yearke at an angle where I could clearly see his penis and scrotum all the way outside his pants. This was when the female customer was in the aisle.”

The officer reported that it didn’t appear as if the woman saw Yearke because she was still looking into the freezer. Later, the woman left the area right when the employee approached Yearke about his concerns.

Yearke reportedly signed a consent report to search for the camera and Yearke allegedly told the officer there was nothing else on the camera.

“He said this was the first time he has done this,” the officer wrote. “(A detective) reviewed the contents of the key fob and indicated the video appeared to be a male subject walking around a food market with his penis exposed.”

On June 1, the officer filed the affidavit with the court and on July 21, Yearke was arrested on Putney Avenue and held on $2,000 cash bail. He was arraigned on July 22.