Salem Ford Tech Sentenced for Masturbating in Customer's Car

A former Salem Ford automotive technician received 90 days of suspended jail Wednesday after standing trial for pleasuring himself in a customer's car while in the Salem Marshalls parking lot.

The sentence for Mark A. Rice, 44, of Hooksett, is suspended if Rice maintains good behavior for two years. Rice was also issued a $1,000 fine, $500 of which is also suspended for two years, according to Salem District Court staff.

Rice was charged with two misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure on June 6 after police were dispatched to the Marshalls parking lot on Route 28 for a report about a man exposing himself in the vehicle.

The responding officer saw Rice in the vehicle with his genitals exposed, and after the officer knocked on the window of the borrowed vehicle — a black Hyundai Sonata with a Massachusetts registration — Rice quickly zipped his pants up and was later asked to exit the vehicle, where he was then arrested, police have said.

Rice drove the customer's vehicle to the parking lot, which is roughly one mile away from Salem Ford, while he was on break.

Rice was also ordered during Wednesday's trial and sentencing to continue treatment for his actions, have no contact with witnesses in the case, and to have "no entry" in Marshalls for two years, according to court staff.

A review hearing will be held in roughly six months to monitor Rice's compliance with his sentence.

The indecent exposure offenses aren't the first for Rice, police have previously told Patch. Police have said that Rice was arrested in 1996 by Billerica, Mass., police and again in 1998 by Boston, Mass., police for open and gross lewdness.