Cops: Supermarket Employee Exposed Himself to Customer

Editor's note: See correction at bottom.

After a customer of Palmer's Market told police a man had exposed himself to her, police looked at the store's video records, then arrested the man.

Darien police gave this account of the incident, investigation and arrest:

On Tuesday, Sept. 18, a woman was at Palmer's Market, 246 Heights Rd., when a man stood at the end of the aisle she was in and exposed himself to her.

Later, the woman was checking out her groceries when the same man walked past her and exposed himself. He then walked down an aisle and exposed himself to her again.

Police looked at a store video, which allowed police to identify the man in question as Santiago Lara, 19, of 246 Main St., Norwalk, at that time an employee at the store.

Lara denied that he had exposed himself, but in a news release police said "continuing investigation developed sufficient probable cause for the issuance of the arrest warrant."

Police applied for and recieved the warrant, which charges Lara with three counts of indecent exposure and three counts of disorderly conduct.

On Wednesday, Oct. 10, Lara was notified that the warrant had been issued, and he surrendered himself at Darien Police Headquarters. He posted a $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear Oct. 19 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

Correction: Darien police say their original anouncement on accusing Santiago Lara of exposing himself on two different days was inaccurate. He is not accused of exposing himself on Sept. 21, only on Sept. 18. Parts of this article have been rewritten as a result of the corrected information.