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In a peculiar turn of events in Gainesville, Florida, a 33-year-old man named Moheet Mohan Kanolkar found himself under arrest following an unsettling report from a concerned passerby. Onlookers became suspicious when they noticed Kanolkar hiding within the foliage at Depot Park. Responding officers observed him adjusting his clothing as they approached. Lacking any form of identification, Kanolkar was found with a bus ticket suggesting he had just traveled from Atlanta.
The incident unfolded on the morning of April 22, around 7:46 a.m., as officers from the Gainesville Police Department intensified their patrols in the Depot Park vicinity. This increased vigilance was in response to a spate of recent public indecency cases in the area. A passerby tipped off an officer about a man behaving strangely along the walking trail, hidden amid the bushes, behavior that echoed the pattern of past incidents involving public exposure that local authorities have been investigating.
Law enforcement officials discovered the individual roughly 10 feet into a wooded area, obscured by trees and shrubbery. Upon nearing, they saw him adjusting his attire. Despite multiple commands to emerge from his hiding spot, Kanolkar initially remained motionless behind a tree, seemingly attempting to maintain his concealment. It was only after several directives that he finally stepped forward from the woods.
When questioned, Kanolkar claimed he was in the park awaiting his employer, a statement that did little to clarify the situation. Officers noted that he had arrived in Gainesville at around 3:40 a.m. on a bus originating from Gary, Indiana, with a stop in Atlanta. However, Kanolkar was unable to provide details about his supposed employer or any business-related purpose for being in Gainesville. Moreover, he could not offer a plausible reason for adjusting his pants when officers confronted him, leaving many questions about his intentions unanswered.
The man reportedly said he was waiting for his boss in the woods, but officers reported that he had a bus ticket showing that he had arrived in Gainesville at 3:40 a.m. that morning on a bus from Atlanta; the ticket indicated that the trip began in Gary, Indiana. The man reportedly was unable to provide the name of his boss or the business, could not say why he was in Gainesville, and could not explain why he was pulling up his pants when officers approached him.
When he was asked for identification, the man reportedly said he did not have it on him; although he said he has a Florida ID, officers reported that they employed a fingerprint scan and facial recognition software, but a nationwide search did not find any positive identification for the man. The man reportedly would not say whether he was a United States citizen, if he had a passport or visa, or if he had any other documentation to verify his identity; according to the arrest report, he was born in India.
The man gave consent for officers to search his phone, and they reported finding multiple videos of a person “participating in self-pleasure,” as well as many screenshots of Facebook pages belonging to various young women.
The man also gave consent for a search of his belongings, which reportedly produced a condom and baby lotion, “both of which are routinely used by males who participate in self-pleasure,” according to an officer.
Kanolkar has been charged with loitering/prowling. He has no known criminal history, and Judge Bo Bayer set bail at $3,000.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.