‘Pantless prowler’ busted weeks after cameras caught him lurking in NC yards, cops say
“Growing fear” gnawed at a neighborhood in North Carolina when an elusive “pantless prowler” remained on the loose weeks after security cameras caught him lurking in yards and driveways partially clothed.
Police finally caught him on Wednesday.
Carlos Antonio Soto, 18, was arrested and charged with indecent exposure, a spokesperson for the Town of Clayton said in a news release Thursday.
There were “recent sightings of a pantless prowler,” police said. Security footage captured him squatting behind someone’s grill with no pants on and wandering through yards in the Riverwood Athletic Club neighborhood Dec. 6 and 7.
“The suspect was seen walking across driveways, near front and back doors, and in some cases was not wearing pants,” the release states.
Soto was identified as a suspect early on and interviewed, but police said they had to collect enough evidence to charge him before making an arrest, according to the release.
“Clayton Police Chief Blair Myhand recognized the neighborhood’s understandable frustration and growing fear when an arrest was not immediately made,” the release said.
“We truly appreciate the community’s help in bringing this disturbing case to close,” Myhand said, pointing to the helpfulness of home surveillance videos in catching criminals. “In this instance though, we needed the law to catch up to technology. For now at least, cameras can’t be victims; only people can.”
Police first asked for the public’s assistance in identifying the prowler on Facebook, describing him as a man in his 20s or 30s wearing a baseball hat, a blue sweatshirt or jacket, light blue shorts, white socks and black shoes.
They weren’t sure what he was doing, but residents had some ideas.
“Perhaps someone having an affair?” one person commented on the police department’s Facebook page last month. “Husband came home and he had to run out without his shorts.”
Another thought he might be on drugs: “This guy is tripping out. Shrooms or LSD.”
Police did not speculate Thursday on a motive.
Soto was issued a $1,000 secured bond and had his first court appearance at 9 a.m. Thursday.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 11:11 AM.
