Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigators believe there may be more victims of a suspect they arrested who exposed himself to female bus riders on at least three occasions in Orange County.
Deputies at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19, responded to a report of indecent exposure aboard an Orange County Transportation Authority bus near Highland and Bristol streets in Santa Ana.
A male suspect had positioned himself near a 16-year-old bus passenger and exposed himself to the victim multiple times before proceeding to masturbate in front of her.
As the deputy handling the case investigated, he reviewed bus surveillance footage and recognized the suspect as a man OCSD arrested in February for a similar indecent exposure case aboard an OCTA bus traveling in Anaheim.
The suspect had exposed himself to a 22-year-old woman on Feb. 20 while riding the bus near State College Boulevard and La Palma Avenue.
Carlos Alberto Tirado, 49, of Costa Mesa, was arrested March 17 on suspicion of indecent exposure.
He was released on bail and had been awaiting a court date when the June incident occurred.
While investigating the June 19 case, OCSD personnel recalled a third indecent exposure incident aboard a bus possibly involving the same suspect.
In that incident, the suspect exposed his genitals multiple times and masturbated while making eye contact with a 22-year-old female victim on an OCTA bus in Anaheim. The incident was reported to law enforcement four days later. The investigating deputy went back and reviewed surveillance footage of the Dec. 10, 2017 incident and was able to identify the suspect as Tirado.
Tirado was arrested June 29 on suspicion of indecent exposure and child annoyance. He was booked into the Orange County Jail, where he remains in custody. His bail is set at $25,000, and he is expected to appear in court for a pretrial Aug. 8.
“The victimization of those confronted by the perpetrator is very upsetting and very significant,” said J.D. Hoskins, sergeant for the OCTA Right of Way unit. “We have seen, in some cases, perpetrators like this get progressively more brazen and, if not stopped, graduate to higher-level sex crimes. This was great work by our deputies and investigators to track down and apprehend this suspect.”
Given the nature of Tirado’s activity, OCSD investigators believe there could be more women who were victimized.
Anyone who may have more information or believes they were a victim of such a crime are urged to contact the Sheriff’s Department at 714-265-4340. Anonymous tips may also be submitted to Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS.
