It’s a disturbing end to a day of sunbathing a trio of young women from Lakewood never thought they’d experience.
Right now, they are trying to shake what they saw while at Edgewater Beach, as they call for more foot patrols of that park.
They tell News 5 extra patrols may have prevented them from witnessing what they saw Wednesday afternoon when a strange man approached trying to make small talk.
"It's disappointing you can't even go out in your bathing suit to tan with your friends in summer without feeling violated," said Zoe Lewis.
Lewis and Meghan Malone were sunbathing with friends in this grassy area at Edgewater Beach when they were approached by a man on a bike.
"Unfortunately that's pretty common for girls...when you go to the beach people try to talk with you, but he was really persistent and we kept ignoring him," said Lewis.
The 20-year old tells News 5 when he wasn't speaking with them, the man would just stare in their direction.
"We were immediately sketched out cause there was a bunch of open space, why are you right in front of us," said Meghan Malone.
About 15 minutes after riding up the man moved up on some rocks.
"We noticed he was pleasuring himself while he was looking at us," said Lewis.
Malone believes this suspect may have struck before.
"The way he had his bike and book bag set it up you could tell maybe it wasn't his first time because it was leaned against the rocks and he used his book bag to hide himself but he was also turned at an angle," said Malone.
A witness nearby told the young ladies to call 911.
By the time Metroparks’ rangers arrived the man was gone.
"For us it was really disgusting, we were really disturbed, but I think the most disturbing part of it all is that there were kids around and they were running around on the rocks and it very well could have been one of those kids that saw," said Lewis.
A spokesperson for the Cleveland Metroparks tells News 5 this is an isolated incident.
“I think it would be a lot better if there was active security patrolling," said Lewis.
The spokesperson went on to say parks like Edgewater have a strong police presence, with rangers on foot, bicycles and some even undercover.
For now, that's still not good enough for Lewis.
"We were really excited to come down here because we did see the changes they're trying to make. I feel like sticking to my house to sunbathe, unfortunately" said Lewis.
A Metroparks spokesperson tells News 5 this is the fourth potential incident of its kind at Edgewater in the last five beach seasons, so a pretty rare occurrence.
The search continues for the suspect.
Cleveland Metroparks issued this statement regarding the incident:
Providing a safe and high quality guest experience is Cleveland Metroparks priority. Yesterday, Cleveland Metroparks Rangers were notified of a reported incident and responded immediately. The isolated incident is currently under investigation.
