Cranston Police Charge 'Naked Man' With Indecent Exposure, B&E

CRANSTON, RI — A Woonsocket man is facing charges after police say he exposed himself on two separate occasions Dec. 22, and broke into a house.

Last week, Cranston police released security footage of a man outside a red minivan, completely nude. He was later identified as Paul Sawyer, 35, and arrested the following day.

According to Cranston police, Sawyer was involved in two incidents overnight. The first happened around 1:40 a.m., when he approached a female security guard at a warehouse on Plainfield Pike. He drove into the parking lot, left the van running for about 20 minutes, then got out of the vehicle and approached the woman. He chased her as guard drove away in her security vehicle, and left after she called the police.

Around 3:15 a.m., Sawyar came back to the city and broke into a house on Gray Coach Lane, police said. The homeowner ran into him, and Sawyer ran away.

Shortly after releasing the security footage, police received a tip identifying Sawyer. He was twice arrested in 2015 on indecent exposure charges in Smithfield.

Sawyer was charged with one count of breaking and entering and two counts of indecent exposure.

"The residents of Cranston can now rest easy that this matter is closed with an arrest and the person responsible is in custody," Cranston police said on a statement.