Brooklyn man indicted for exposing himself to Queens girls
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The Flushing intersection where prosecutors say a man masturbated after snatching a teen’s phone. Image via Google Maps.
By Jonathan Sperling
A Brooklyn man who allegedly exposed himself to two girls in Queens and tried to lure one into his car was indicted by a Queens grand jury on Wednesday.
Eddie Rodriguez, 42, allegedly drove his car up to a 12-year-old girl as she walked along Van Cleef Street in Corona on May 6 and asked her for directions to a hospital. He also allegedly asked to use her cell phone. After giving her phone to Rodriguez, the girl noticed that the man’s pants were down and he was masturbating, prosecutors said.
Rodriguez also allegedly ordered the preteen to get in his car, but she refused. He returned the phone and drove off after a good Samaritan asked if the girl was OK.
Rodriguez was arraigned before Judge Richard Buchter on one count of fourth-degree grand larceny, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of public lewdness. Buchter continued to hold the defendant in lieu of $80,000 bond or $55,000 cash bail.
Rodriguez was ordered to return to court on Aug. 5. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.
Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan said that Rodriguez “exposed his genitals and fondled himself all while pursuing two underage girls — urging one of them to get into his vehicle.”
“This behavior is despicable and perverted and endangered the well-being of these two victims — causing them to fear for their safety,” Ryan continued.
In another incident on April 4, prosecutors say Rodriguez pulled up next to a 14-year-old girl near the intersection of 156th Street and 43rd Avenue in Flushing. Rodriguez also allegedly asked to use the teen’s phone to get directions to the hospital in that case. He snatched the phone out of the girl’s hand and began to masturbate when she demanded her phone back, prosecutors say.
A reported 217 misdemeanor sex crimes have occurred in Queens North between the start of 2019 and May 26, according to NYPD data — a 55 percent increase compared to the same time period in 2018.
