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Police Nab 'Red Car' Flasher Who Had Been Exposing Himself to Valley Residents for 2 Years
He was dubbed the "Red Car Flasher" thanks to his tendency to commit his crimes while riding in a red vehicle, and now he is behind bars, thanks to one fast-thinking victim.The Los Angeles Police Department arrested 24-year-old Luis Bucio-Cedeno on March 29 in conjunction with two years' worth of crimes including indecent exposure, child annoying, lewd conduct, and sexual battery stemming from alleged encounters with 11 victims. The LAPD booked Bucio-Cedeno for 19 criminal counts and bail was set at $110,000, however the suspect's immigration status netted him a no-bail federal immigration hold.
Bucio-Cedeno was the subject of a long-running search, says the LAPD, that involved officers across three San Fernando Valley police visions.
"After two years, dozens of sightings, several composite sketches, we got a break in February when a female jogger wrote down a license plate for the van of a man who had exposed himself to her," said Lt. Paul Vernon, commanding officer of the LAPD Mission Detective Division. The jogger noticed a red Toyota parked in front of the van and witnesses the two drivers speaking. When the van pulled away, the man in the red Toyota, later identified as Bucio-Cedeno, exposed himself to the woman, too.
Although the LAPD trailed Bucio-Cedeno, he wasn't spotted driving a red car. Turns out the car belonged to his aunt, and she had recently sold the car, though she admitted she had loaned it to her nephew several times over the past couple of years.
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The LAPD says they believe Bucio-Cedeno has more victims who have yet to come forward, and, as the tale of the jogger reveals, there are more perps flashing people than they realized.
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