Naked man reported on Mount Pearl walking trail
The RNC did not find a suspect after responding to complaint from Power’s Pond Park in late April
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary says time is certainly of the essence when it comes to investigating complaints of public indecency.
On April 29, the police force responded to the Power’s Pond Park area of Mount Pearl on multiple occasions, including for one complaint of a man reported to be in the area with no clothes on.
That same day, an anonymous member of the Community of Powers Pond group on Facebook posted that they had been walking along the second duck pond on the Power’s Pond Park trail network when they saw a naked man come out of the woods.
The poster said there were not many other people around and they were alarmed at being caught off guard by such an unexpected sight.
The person also mentioned how they had been stopped last fall by a woman who warned about having seen a naked man by the trees next to the second duck pond the day before.
“I just want to make walkers, parents and children aware of this,” the social media post said. “Be vigilant and careful.”
The person who made the post noted they did contact the police.
NO ONE LOCATED: RNC
Const. James Cadigan, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary’s media relations and public communication officer, told Saltwire the RNC received two reports from the Power’s Pond Park area that day. One was for an indecent act and another was a complaint about someone yelling in the area.
He said officers responded to both calls, but could not locate anyone of a suspicious nature. He said the officers followed up in the subsequent days with extra patrols, but no one of interest was ever located.
It remains to be seen, he said, if this was a criminal matter or a mental health matter.
NO OTHER REPORTS: CITY
The City of Mount Pearl said it received a complaint on April 29 of a nude man being in the lower pond area of the park.
The city’s municipal enforcement immediately contacted the RNC, inspected the area and met with the resident who submitted the complaint.
“To date, no other reports or complaints related to this, or similar incidents have been registered with the city,” the municipality said in an email to Saltwire.
Since the Power’s Pond incident, the RNC also responded to a complaint of an indecent act in the Bannerman Park area of St. John’s, but Cadigan could not say if the two incidents were related in any way.
Whether criminal or mental health-related, Cadigan said such incidents are concerning and urged anyone who sees anything suspicious to immediately call the police.
“We want people to report any of these types of events immediately so we can quickly respond and determine what steps need to be taken,” he said. “It’s great to be Johnny on the spot, but the quicker we have information, the more efficiently we can respond and investigate.”