Yuman is arrested in incident involving minors

Girls accuse man of sexual motions outside local store

A Yuma man was arrested over the weekend for allegedly making sexual motions in front of three underage girls who were walking toward a store at the Yuma Palms Regional Center.

Sgt. Lori Franklin, a spokesperson for the Yuma Police Department, said the incident happened at approximately 6:18 p.m. on Saturday outside of Target, and the girls were 14 and 15 years old.

Franklin said the girls told a mall security guard that an older white male, who was driving a brown, newer model, Chevy Silverado pickup, allegedly pulled up next to them and raised his hips and made a motion like he was masturbating and drove away.

The man, according to Franklin, then drove around the parking lot and went back to where the girls were and did the same thing a second time.

A security guard who located the pickup still in the mall area got its license plate number and took picture of it, then reported the incident to Yuma police, with officers responding to the mall in reference to a report of indecent exposure.

Yuma police, who had been provided with the pickup’s last known direction of travel by the mall security guard, located it a short time later in the 1000 block of 16th Street and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle.

The driver of the pickup, identified as 63-year-old Dwight Raley, was arrested and booked on three misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and one misdemeanor count of false reporting.

“Officers already knew it was the right vehicle when

they conducted the traffic stop on it,” Franklin said.

Franklin said that Raley initially denied being in the area of the Yuma Palms Mall, but eventually admitted he had been, after officers showed him the pictures of his pickup there.

Although officers responded to the scene for a report of indecent exposure, Franklin said Riley was not charged with the offense because he did not expose himself.

“The false reporting charge is because (Riley) initially lied about being there,” Franklin said.

Raley, who is out of custody, is scheduled to be arraigned in Yuma Municipal Court at 8:30 a.m. June 20.

The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime at (928) 782-7463 to remain anonymous.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun. com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www. Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @ YSJamesGilbert.