Lufkin police arrest man accused of exposing self to park walker

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - On Thursday evening, Lufkin police officers arrested a man identified as the suspect who they say exposed himself to a woman on the Azalea Trail earlier in August.

Justin Larnell Ethridge, 35, of Lufkin, was arrested at his home on Englewood Drive at 4:22 p.m. Thursday. He was arrested without incident on the indecent exposure charge, police report.

As detectives investigated, they were able to identify Ethridge as the suspect in an Aug. 17 incident in which they say he exposed himself to a woman. She had told officers she was walking the trail around 8:15 a.m. when she encountered a thin black male touching himself inappropriately north of Lufkin Mall. The woman said the man called for her, but she quickly walked away.

A short time later, the woman said, she heard someone running behind her. She said she turned to see the same man approaching her, still exposed. The woman told him she was calling police, and he ran away toward the mall

Ethridge was already listed as a sex offender due to two previous indecent exposure convictions. He will be issued criminal trespass warnings for all city parks, including Azalea Trail, police say.

The case remains under investigation.