{"id":267142,"date":"2026-08-17T22:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267142\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T22:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T22:49:13","slug":"police-investigate-indecent-exposure-cases-at-pennsylvania-dollar-tree-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267142\/","title":{"rendered":"Police investigate indecent exposure cases at Pennsylvania Dollar Tree stores"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police investigate indecent exposure cases at Pennsylvania Dollar Tree stores<\/p>\n

\"Tasmin<\/a><\/p>\n

Police in Pennsylvania are investigating three indecent exposure and assault cases at dollar stores this month, which they believe may be linked to a possible social media trend. <\/p>\n

Young girl reports assault at Prospect Park store<\/p>\n

The first incident occurred on Aug. 3 at a Dollar Tree in Prospect Park, Delaware County.<\/p>\n

Police identified 35-year-old Robert McCool as a person of interest after a young girl reported that someone inappropriately touched her while she was at the store with her younger sister. <\/p>\n

\"Image\"ImageSuspect accused of lewd acts at two stores<\/p>\n

The next day, Aug. 4, police allege that 30-year-old Anthony Oates grabbed himself, exposed himself, and performed a lewd act while female customers, including an 18-year-old, were nearby at a Dollar Tree in Morrisville, Bucks County.<\/p>\n

A warrant has been issued for his arrest. Authorities said Oates also allegedly exposed himself inside a nearby Michaels craft store. <\/p>\n

\"Image\"ImageThird incident reported in Delaware County<\/p>\n

On Aug. 5, officers in Springfield Township, Delaware County, responded to another Dollar Tree after a shopper reported seeing a man expose himself in an aisle.<\/p>\n

Police identified the suspect as 30-year-old Jhet LaRose. <\/p>\n

\"Image\"ImagePolice praise girl\u2019s quick thinking<\/p>\n

The first case involving the young girl has drawn significant attention due to the victim\u2019s age. Police are calling the girl a hero for her quick thinking during the incident. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe needs to be praised for what she did,\u201d Prospect Park Police Chief, Dave Madonna, said. \u201cShe took a very difficult situation, a very traumatic situation, and ensured not only her own safety but the safety of her young sister as well. She should be proud of herself.\u201d <\/p>\n

The chief also said McCool, the suspect in the first case, is originally from Florida but has ties to Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n

\"Image\"ImageDollar Tree responds as the investigation continues<\/p>\n

In a statement addressing the incidents, Dollar Tree officials said the crimes are \u201cunacceptable\u201d and emphasized the company\u2019s commitment to effective safety and security programs. <\/p>\n

While police believe there is a pattern connecting the cases, they have not disclosed details about the possible social media trend. Warrants remain active for all three suspects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police investigate indecent exposure cases at Pennsylvania Dollar Tree stores Police in Pennsylvania are investigating three indecent exposure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[112655,112656,112657,112665,112661,41139,197,212,51334,112663,112659,112660,40087,28,112664,30,29,206,112662,88621,75211,19159,450,112658,35895],"class_list":["post-267142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-30-year-old-anthony-oates","tag-30-year-old-jhet-larose","tag-35-year-old-robert-mccool","tag-assault-case","tag-assault-report","tag-aug","tag-bucks-county","tag-delaware-county","tag-dollar-tree","tag-first-case","tag-first-incident","tag-indecent-exposure-case","tag-morrisville","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-dollar-tree-store","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-police","tag-prospect-park-store","tag-quick-thinking","tag-social-media-trend","tag-springfield-township","tag-suspect","tag-three-indecent-exposure-and-assault-cases","tag-young-girl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}