A man arrested for allegedly masturbating outside an elementary school in Florida accused school officials, who called police, of being racist because he is Hispanic, police reported.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office apprehended Jose Estrada-Catalan, 33, on October 7, after a mother who was at the school to pick up her 8-year-old child alerted school officials to the man’s activities outside the school. Estrada-Catalan was in a car next to hers, the woman said.
The parent told school officials that Estrada-Catalan was masturbating in his car while watching teenaged cheerleaders practicing on the school’s athletic field.
According to some reports, the parent began yelling, “oh my God, oh my God,” causing Estrada-Catalan to allegedly pull his pants up and drive away from the school.
School officials immediately called police and gave them the accused man’s license plate number.
Police confronted the man at the home he shares with a wife and two minor children. He was brought back to the school where the parent identified him.
The accused man initially told police that he assumed that the people who called police on him “did not like Hispanics,” but police informed him that those same people were themselves Hispanics.
According to WWSB TV, Estarada-Catalan was charged with lewd or lascivious exhibition by a person 18 years old or older. He was released on $7,500 bond.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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