SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio Park Police arrested 47-year-old Jerry Ellis Jr. Thursday, after undercover officers said he pleasured himself in a wooded area near the main road of McAllister Park.
Ellis approached an officer in plain clothes in a men's restroom, then walked with the officer to the wooded area near a park bike trail and began rubbing his genitals "in a back and forth motion".
Ellis' arrest came approximately 90 minutes after SAPD received a similar call for man seen "pleasuring himself" while leaning on a picnic table.
In that incident, a woman walking a dog said she witnessed the act in progress, then quickly alerted police.
The woman told the I-Team it was the second time in as many months she witnessed the same man performing a lewd act in McAllister Park.
"You always hear rumblings sometimes of things that aren't necessarily the best that can go on in parks," said Glenna Pearce, who was at the park Friday with her young son.
SAPD records indicate officers have responded to 63 calls at McAllister Park since April 1.
The calls for service log did not indicate the exact nature of each call.
Parents KENS 5 spoke with Friday said Ellis' arrest would not keep them from returning to the popular park.
"Look at my surroundings beforehand, try to gauge. I'm kind of a people watcher, so if I start to feel uncomfortable, your instinct is the best thing that you have," said parent Amber O'Hallighan.
