Ferndale

Police arrest Royal Oak man for indecent exposure

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

» click to enlarge « Kem Kem

A 52-year-old Royal Oak man is facing charges of indecent exposure after he allegedly flashed a woman in the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant.

According to Ferndale Police Detective Lt. Bill Wilson, at around 9:45 a.m. Dec. 29, police responded to the McDonald’s restaurant at 22525 Woodward Ave. on a report of a man who had exposed himself to a customer. The officers met with the complainant, a 24-year-old Ferndale woman, who said that the suspect — later identified as Jhuty Kem — had approached her while she was in her car placing an order.

“He came up next to her in the drive-thru and started making lewd gestures with his hands, mouth and tongue,” Wilson explained. “He then dropped his pants and exposed his penis to her.”

Wilson added that after flashing the woman, Kem did not attempt to touch her or threaten her in any way, but simply walked inside the restaurant. When the officers arrived, they found him sitting inside a bathroom stall and placed him under arrest.

On Dec. 31, Kem was arraigned in Ferndale 43rd District Court on charges of indecent exposure, a one-year misdemeanor. Magistrate James Brennan set his bond at $1,500 cash or surety and ordered that he have no contact with the complainant or with the McDonald’s restaurant. At press time, Kem had not yet posted bond and was scheduled to appear for a pretrial at 1 p.m. Jan. 8. He requested a court-appointed attorney in the case.

Wilson noted that Kem does not have any history of these types of crimes.

“He has no prior arrests for indecent exposure,” he said. “If he did, then we could have upped the ante by charging him as a sexually delinquent person.”

This incident was not the complainant’s first encounter with Kem, however. She told police that on Dec. 13, he had approached her while she was walking on the sidewalk near Woodward and Maplehurst Avenue, where he exhibited similarly vulgar behavior.

“But on that particular occasion,” Wilson said, “he did not actually expose himself to this woman. He just made an offensive gesture and grabbed his crotch through his pants after he walked up to her.”

The woman called the police on that day as well. Ferndale officers searched the area, Wilson said, but they were unable to locate Kem.

Also on Dec. 13, an unrelated indecent exposure incident occurred elsewhere in Ferndale. At around 1:25 a.m., police responded to the area of Romeo and Orchard streets after receiving a call from a 28-year-old Ferndale woman. The complainant told the officers that she was sitting in her vehicle, parked in her driveway, and talking on her cellphone when an unknown man knocked on her window. The man startled her, and when she turned to look at him, she saw that he was exposed and touching himself.

She honked her horn and yelled at the man to leave. He fled the scene, running northbound on Romeo and then westbound on East Breckenridge Street. The woman hesitated for about 30 minutes before calling the police.

Ferndale officers could not find the suspect, who the woman described as a white male, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and 155 pounds with dark hair, dark eyes, a mustache and stubble on his face. She also stated that he was wearing dark-colored clothing and may have been of Italian descent.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call Ferndale police at (248) 541-3650.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jSelweski@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5004.