A registered sex offender was arrested Thursday morning after he was allegedly seen masturbating outside a Half Moon Bay residence, according to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff's deputies responded to the unit block of Amesport Landing at 5:40 a.m. after two residents there reported seeing a man masturbating outside their bedroom window.
The two victims heard a noise outside and opened the blinds to investigate and found the suspect there with his pants around his ankles, sheriff's officials said.
The man, described as a Hispanic man about six feet tall and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, pulled up his pants and ran away before deputies arrived.
Sheriff's officials searched the area, and found a person hiding in the bushes. He was told to stop, but fled, running through the apartment complex jumping fences.
The suspect fled over U.S. Highway 1, and eventually deputies caught up with him hiding in a yard on the west side of the highway.
He was arrested and one of the victims identified him as the man who had been outside of their window.
Sheriff's officials identified the man as a transient man living in Half Moon Bay named Gilberto Flores, 34. He was booked into Maguire Correctional Facility.
Sheriff's officials said Flores is a registered sex offender who was convicted in 2010 for a similar offense, when he was caught masturbating while watching women working out at a local gym.
Anyone with additional information about the case has been asked to contact the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office at (650) 573-2844.
--Bay City News
