Man arrested in Bay Area also suspect in Tahoe ski area indecent exposure cases

Submitted by paula on Tue, 07/25/2017 - 8:05pm

Ongoing indecent exposure cases in two counties over 200 miles apart may have been solved with the arrest of 34-year-old Wellington Potter of San Jose, Calif.

At 7:00 p.m. on July 17, 2017, a white Volkswagen Jetta stopped on a San Jose street and its driver exposed himself while masturbating after he called a 9-year-old over to his open window. The suspect drove away.

A few days after this incident a Santa Clara Police Detective reviewed a law enforcement flier put out by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office in Lake Tahoe.

The North Lake Tahoe Sheriff's station had received several reports of a man riding his snowboard up to young girls and exposing himself at various ski resorts between March and April, 2017. After their ongoing investigation a flier was distributed, identifying Wellington Potter as the suspect.

Suspect Potter would target mostly young girls from 7 to 15 years old, though one victim was 30-years-old.

A Santa Clara Detective discovered that Potter drove a white VW Jetta and noted similarities between the Placer County cases and the Santa Clara case.

Detectives from the Santa Clara Police Special Enforcement Team (SET) located Potter in the area of Homestead Road and Los Padres Boulevard driving his white VW Jetta. Potter had just exposed himself to two female juveniles that were walking nearby. SET Detectives arrested Potter shortly thereafter.

Potter was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on three counts of Indecent Exposure and three counts of Annoying a Child Under 16 years old. He also faces numerous charges of indecent exposure and annoying minors in Placer County.

Placer County Detectives traveled to San Jose to interview Potter regarding their seven cases.

This investigation is ongoing and law enforcement is trying to identify more victims. Anyone with information regarding these cases is asked to contact Detective John Terry at (408) 615-4812 in San Jose or Sgt. Dave Hunt at 530-581-6321 in Placer County.