A mother and her 5-year-old daughter were shopping at a Walmart on Church Avenue North in Mulberry on Monday, July 6, when a man began following them, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Surveillance video shows him trailing them through the soda aisle. He exposed himself near the cold food section, detectives said.
A store employee saw it. The child’s mother did not, until the employee told her and alerted a supervisor. Deputies said the man had held a box of straws in front of himself, then began touching himself after walking past the pair.
Sheriff Grady Judd was blunt about it. “This is a sick guy and he’s dangerous,” he said, later adding: “This guy needs to be locked up for a long period of time.”
A tip, then an arrest
The sheriff’s office released the surveillance video. An anonymous caller then told Crime Stoppers the man was “David Hicks who did the same thing in Toccoa, Georgia.” Detectives compared Hicks’ photo with the footage and decided he matched.
They arrested the 62-year-old at his home on John David Place in Lakeland around 1 p.m. Thursday, after a two-day search. Judd said Hicks looked at the deputies at his door and told them, “I know why you’re here. I want a lawyer.” He gave no statement.
Hicks is charged with one count each of indecent exposure, lewd exhibition and exposure of sexual organs.
Prior arrests
Judd described a record stretching back more than three decades:
1991: arrested in South Carolina for indecent exposure; paid a fine.
1992: arrested in Georgia; no disposition on record.
1996: arrested in Escambia County; sentenced to three months in jail for indecent exposure.
1998: charged in Georgia with two counts of child molestation; adjudication withheld, five years of probation.
Officials have not confirmed the final outcome of every older case beyond the sentences investigators gave.
The brother
Hicks is the younger brother of Thomas “Tom” Hicks, a Central Florida man who worked as a professional Santa Claus. Tom Hicks was arrested in April in a Polk County operation targeting child predators, and he remains in the county jail on multiple felony charges. “Santa Claus’ brother is this guy, and now we got them both locked up in jail,” Judd said. “I just hope there are no more brothers.”
Judd said deputies are looking into at least one other incident involving David Hicks since the video went public. Anyone who believes they were a victim, or who saw similar behavior, can call the sheriff’s office at 863-298-6200.
Sources
- Brother of 'deviant' Lakeland Santa accused of exposing himself to child at Walmart
- Lakeland man accused of exposing himself to 5-year-old child at Mulberry Walmart: PCSO
