A man accused of sexual battery and public masturbation on the Metrorail system has been arrested more than two dozen times for indecent exposure, Metro Transit police said.
Nathaniel Ford, 29, of southeast Washington was arrested Friday. According to police, he sexually battered a woman on a train near the West Falls Church Metro station on June 5.
The woman recognized Ford from a previous incident that took place in January 2016.
His public masturbation charge stems from a separate incident on a train in Virginia, police said.
Many of Ford’s previous arrests for indecent exposure happened on Metro, transit police said. Ford has also been stopped 11 times for fare evasion.
Police arrested Ford in D.C. They plan to extradite him to Fairfax County.
Metro officials said they cannot easily ban repeat offenders from riding Metro.
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"Unlike many other transit systems, Metro currently does not have the ability to bar individuals who commit repeat offenses. Currently, the only way to keep an individual off Metro is through a court-issued stay away order," transit police said in a release.
