Was watching a female shopper whom he found attractive

Ocala police on Wednesday arrested a man accused of masturbating while looking at a woman in the swimsuit section at Target.

A police officer was called to Target after a loss prevention officer saw a man, later identified as Bryan Swaim, 51, acting suspiciously in the store. The loss prevention officer thought Swaim was attempting to steal items. When he went to the loss prevention office to get a closer look at the individual on camera, another loss prevention officer told him that the man was exposing himself.

The Ocala police officer saw the store surveillance video of Swaim watching the woman and going back and forth between clothing racks. His basketball shorts were slightly pulled down and the lower half of his body was exposed, police officials said. The video also showed him watching the woman, 35, while masturbating.

The officer found the woman, who was still in the store, 2000 SW College Road. She said she saw an older man staring at her near the swimsuit area and it made her uncomfortable, so she left. The woman said she never saw Swaim touching himself.

Swaim was apprehended in the wine aisle. He told police he found the woman attractive.

Police found clothing and a backpack in the front basket of a bicycle that Swaim had ridden to the store. The officer searched the items and found drug paraphernalia. Swaim told the officer that the bicycle was his, but not the backpack.

Swaim was arrested on charges of exposure of sexual organs and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both are first-degree misdemeanors punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. State records show Swaim has had more than a dozen convictions, including two instances of assault on a child younger than 16. Those incidents occurred in Duval County, according to the records.

This is the second time in recent months that police have accused a man of exposing himself at that store. In June, an officer arrested a 21-year-old man on a charge of indecent exposure. According to police, the man accepted a $20 bet from friends to expose himself while in Target. Three women alleged Kuhn had exposed himself to them while they were in the store in May. Officers got a warrant for his arrest and took him into custody.

Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118, austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb.