Metro Transit Police have arrested a man accused of sitting next to a 13-year-old girl on a Metro train and exposing himself to her.
Espinosa Lopez, 37, sat next to the girl on a train in the Georgia Avenue-Petworth station on Sept. 11, unzipped his pants and began to touch himself inappropriately, police said Wednesday afternoon. When the child asked the man to move so she could change seats, he placed his hand on her thigh, police said.
"Why are you leaving so soon?" Lopez asked, according to police.
The victim noticed the man had been wearing a chef's jacket with the name of a restaurant -- which is how police were able to track him down. He worked there.
"Our victim in this case was able to provide a very distinctive look-out," Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik said. "She was able to provide us great clothing description, great facial features, hair -- things that you and I may take for granted."
Surveillance photos of the suspect were distributed to Transit police officers. An officer in the Greenbelt station noticed a man who resembled the suspect and was wearing the same jacket, and Lopez was tracked down, police said.
The Greenbelt resident is charged with second-degree child abuse, which is a felony. He is being held without bond and is due back in court Friday.
