Image courtesy of Google Street View
A female witness said she felt uncomfortable, violated, reports said
A woman reported to police that she felt “very uncomfortable and violated” after witnessing a young, black man masturbating in a Horsham Wawa parking lot.
Horsham Township Police were called to the Wawa at 132 Welsh Road in Horsham at 8:23 a.m. on Sept. 5, where a victim had said a man in a grey, Dodge sedan was “masturbating and recording it” in the public parking lot, according to reports. The woman told police that when she looked over to the car, she saw a young black male with “his whole genitalia out,” said reports.
The woman was able to give police a description, saying he was no older than 28, had mid-dark skin tones, and was wearing a grey, dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, police said. She said the man was “touching himself,” and she reported the issue to her coworker who had driven the two to the Wawa, according to reports. This caused the woman driver to reverse to see the man’s license plate, police said.
Police said that they ran the plate numbers and found the car was registered to Marc Alan Wheeler, Jr., 25, of the 8500 block of Philadelphia. According to reports, police viewed Wawa video footage and found the Dodge Status had entered the parking lot around 8:10 a.m., parking at the rear of the store, in a middle isle. Police said they saw Wheeler get out of the vehicle, enter the store, make purchases, and return to his car. During the interactions, police could see that the man wore a AVO Photonics sweatshirt, said reports.
According to reports, Wheeler then repositioned his vehicle to a parking spot along the right side of the Wawa, by the dumpster. He sat in his vehicle, police said, until the women in the white truck, the victims of the crime, arrived. After the ladies’ truck is parked, the Dodge driven by Wheeler leaves the spot, driving across the front of the truck, before the occupants got out, and proceeding to the spot next to their truck, said police.
The man remains in the car, police said, and after the women see him, the ladies’ truck backs up to review his license plate, and then the Dodge flees the scene. Horsham Police then drove to the township’s AVO Photonics location at 120 Welsh Road, less than half a mile from the Wawa, reports stated, where they located the same Dodge seen on the station’s video parked in the lot.
Police said they entered AVO Photonics and confirmed that Wheeler did work there and asked to speak with him in the conference room. According to reports, Wheeler, who was wearing the same clothing as seen in the video, said he drove himself to work that day, and was the only one in the car that morning. He also admitted, police said, to being at the Wawa prior to going to work.
Wheeler is facing two misdemeanor charges, including indecent exposure and open lewdness, stemming from the incident. He is scheduled to attend a preliminary arraignment on Oct. 31 at 10:15 a.m., with a preliminary hearing slated for the same time, both before Magisterial District Judge Todd Stevens.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
