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Officers search for parking lot flasher

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is asking for help identifying a man who exposed himself to a woman as she left a grocery store.

Investigators released a sketch of the man based on the victim's description.

"She was checking out and had walked back out to her car and was about to get in her car when someone got her attention," said Lt. Jay Baker from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.

Baker told Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri the man was parked outside the Kroger on Hickory Flat Highway and asked the woman for directions to a nearby subdivision. When she answered him she realized the man had exposed himself and was engaged in a sex act in his vehicle.

"It's disgusting," said shopper Ann Brooks.

She told Viteri she talked with her teenage daughter about being aware of her surroundings.

"It makes you aware that even though you think you're safe, you're really not. It can happen anywhere," Brooks said.

Shopper Alissa Rich was at the store with her two young children. She said the incident was surprising and troubling.

"I shop here frequently and I'm always with my kids so it's not something I would want to be around with them," Rich added.

Baker said the woman immediately walked away from the man, who was driving a late model white Ford Escape. She got in her car and called 911.

Investigators said the car had tinted windows and a sun roof. Anyone with information is asked to call the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at 678-493-4100.