Sarasota man charged with exposing himself in elementary school parking lot

SARASOTA -- Deputies arrested a man who was reportedly masturbating in his car outside Phillippi Shores Elementary School on Wednesday afternoon while looking at female students, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

The complainant told deputies she saw Jose Estrada-Catalan, 33, of Sarasota, in the car next to her when she was picking her 8-year-old son up from school. When she was getting into her vehicle, she noticed Estrada-Catalan was exposing himself and masturbating while staring at juveniles.

The woman started saying, "oh my God, oh my God," repeatedly and the suspect looked over at her and pulled his shorts up, according to the arrest report. The woman alerted school officials and they were able to record his license plate number before he drove away.

The woman told deputies her son had luckily only seen the suspect from the chest up. His car had been parked in the student pickup area, adjacent to the playground.

Deputies contacted Estrada-Catalan at his home, where he was with his wife and two minor children. They brought him back to the school, where the woman identified him as the man she had seen.

When deputies later questioned Estrada-Catalan, he initially said perhaps his accuser, "did not like Hispanics," according to the report. When the deputy informed him the woman was Hispanic, he appeared, "shocked." He could not provide an explanation for the incident and appeared nervous, deputies said.

Estrada-Catalan is charged with lewd or lascivious exhibition by a person 18 years old or older. He was released Thursday from the Sarasota County Jail on $7,500 bond.

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Sarasota man charged with exposing himself in elementary school parking lot ."