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Residents terrified by naked prowler targeting homes in east London
21 February 2023, 12:17 | Updated: 22 February 2023, 07:52
Residents in east London have been left terrified after a naked prowler was captured exposing himself on people's doorbell cameras.
In one clip seen by LBC, footage from a Ring doorbell at a home in Barking and Dagenham shows a naked man approaching a house wearing nothing but a top, hat and face mask.
In the footage, the naked man enters the porch area and leans against the wall while pleasuring himself, seemingly waiting for a car to pass.
The resident living at the address, who wished to stay anonymous, told LBC she was woken up at 5.30am on February 13 by the sound of the man setting off her Ring doorbell alarm.
Doorbell footage shows hooded and naked man approach home in east London
"I checked a few minutes later and saw that. Needless to say I was shocked," she told LBC.
"My son and a friend of mine are working night shifts and come home about that time and my first thought was about them and women going early to work.
"Unfortunately he was wearing hat and a mask. [I] posted the video in local group hoping someone would recognise and report him to police."
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After posting the footage online, a number of Dagenham residents got in touch with the woman to say they had experienced similar situations in the area.
One resident described how a man approached her neighbour's house and knocked on the door to say he had a parcel, only for him to stick his penis through the letterbox.
Another resident told how she saw a man stand in front of her house naked from the waist down for around 10 seconds.
She wrote on social media: "He was in front of my door. [The] video was removed by admins. Guessing someone, could’ve been the man himself complained about it. He is getting braver, doesn’t even bother to hide anymore."
Incidents of a similar nature appear to have been taking place in the area since the start of the year, with reports of a man exposing himself to women through letterboxes on January 3 and 4.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told LBC: "Officers investigating a series of incidents of indecent exposure between 3 January and 4 January 2023, arrested a man aged in his 30s on Saturday 18 February 2023 in connection with the incidents.
"He has since been released on police bail until May 2023. Officers are aware of further footage on social media, involving an incident in which a man had exposed himself to the occupants of addresses in Hedgemans Road and Maxley Road, Dagenham on 17 February 2023.
"Officers have taken one report in connection with the incidents. Enquiries are ongoing to establish whether these incidents are linked. Officers encourage anyone with any information regarding the incidents to call 101 quoting 5120/21FEB."