James Reese, 57, was arrested on Wednesday after he jumped the turntable at the Newark PATH Station without paying the fare, according to Port Authority spokesman Joseph Pentangelo. Officers then recognized him as a suspect from a July 20 incident when a woman said Reese allegedly sat down in front of her and started masturbating at the Newport PATH Station, Pentangelo said.
“It’s fortuitous that the victim took the pictures [of the incident],” Pentangelo said, “and it was also fortuitous that the officer was alert and noticed that the person sitting in the squad room was one in the same that had been captured by the victim’s photographs.”
Authorities also said that Reese had a crack pipe with suspected cocaine residue on it, and was wanted on three outstanding warrants, two from Newark and one from Jersey City, the spokesman said.
Reese was charged with public lewdness, bail jumping, possession of drug paraphernalia and theft of service, and was held at the Essex County Correctional Facility, according to Pentangelo.