Marcelo Tapia-Nolasco

Name:
Tapia-Nolasco, Marcelo

Date of Booking:
12/10/2025

Reason(s) For Booking:
Public Indecency, 1st Or 2nd Conviction

Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]

On 12/10/2025 I responded to [600 BLOCK] Jeans St in reference to a lewd act.

Upon arrival, I met with the complainant/victim, [VICTIM #1]. Due to her not speaking English, her son translated for me. She informed me that her neighbor, residing at [600 BLOCK] Jeans St, had exposed his genitals and was mast*rbating in his yard, on the side of his house. She stated that she had went into the kitchen to wash dishes when she observed him outside. She stated that he has lived there for about 4 years but stated that the past four months, he has committed this act multiple times. She stated that its always at night and always seems to be when she is at her kitchen washing dishes or cooking.

It is important to note that [VICTIM #1]’s kitchen window is right above the sink and is oriented toward the side of the [600 BLOCK] Jeans St house. [VICTIM #1] then stated that when she observed what he was doing, she turned the lights out in the kitchen and placed her phone on the window sill and began recording for evidence. She stated that though this incident has been occurring frequently over the past 4 months. She could not work up the courage to report it to police due to her not being able to speak English and the worry of retaliation from the occupants of [600 BLOCK] Jeans St.

I then asked [VICTIM #1] to access the video so I could view it. I watched the video and observed a male wearring a dark colored hooded sweatshirt, with the hood on, and blue jeans. The male came around the north side of the house, into the side yard. The male then turned the flashlight of his cell phone on and oriented the light to the zipper area of his pants. He then unzipped his pants and pulled his p*nis out of his pants after looking into the window of his house as if to make sure no one else inside of the house could see him. At this time, the male grabbed his p*nis and began to shake it.

The male continued to do this until his p*nis was erect. He then moved from just standing in the yard, to leaning up against the side of his house. He continued to shake and then began to stroke his p*nis in a sexual manner all while keeping the flashlight illuminated on his p*nis. The video ended when the male put his p*nis back into his pants and walked out of the camera frame. The total time of the video recorded was 2 minutes and 26 seconds. [VICTIM #1] then showed me another video of a silver in color Ford Explorer leaving the residence and stated that this was the males vehicle and that he left for work after this incident.

I then asked [VICTIM #1] how many times this incident has occurred. She stated that she guessed the incident to have occurred around 90 times in 4 months. She stated that the male has a wife and 4 children that her children used to play with but she does not let them play with them anymore for this reason. She also stated that on multiple occasions, she has had to get her kids out of the kitchen because she observed this male performing this act through the kitchen window but that none of her kids had actually seen him doing it. [VICTIM #1] is the only one that has witnessed this incident.

At this time, I asked [VICTIM #1] if she knew who the male was. She stated that she did not know his name, she just knew he lived at [600 BLOCK] Jeans St. I then relocated to [600 BLOCK] Jeans St and attempted to make contact with someone at the residence. I was unable to make contact at this time so I relocated to [600 BLOCK] Jeans St, which is the residence to the right of [600 BLOCK] Jeans St and attempted to make contact.

I did not make contact at this residence but was able to run the tag of a vehicle sitting in front of the residence and obtain a telephone number for the registered owner. At this time, I made contact with [WITNESS #1] who resides at [600 BLOCK] Jeans St. I asked if she was familiar with who lives in [600 BLOCK] Jeans St. She stated that she was. I asked if she had seen the male this at all this morning and she stated that she last seen him yesterday afternoon when he got off of work.

I then asked if he was currently at work and she stated that she believed that he was. I then asked if she knew what vehicle he drove. She stated that he does not drive, but that he drives a silver in color Ford Explorer. I then asked [WITNESS #1] if she knew the males name that lived at [600 BLOCK] Jeans St. She stated that his name was Marcelo Tapia. I then asked if she knew of anyone else that lived at that residence and she stated that it was just Marcelo and his wife and kids.

I then ran Marcelo’s name through GCIC/NCIC and was able to find his drivers license return and photo. Marcelo was listed as being 5 foot tall and weighing 160 pounds. He is a hispanic male with short, combed over hair. He has facial hair that consists of a trimmed beard with a thin strip of hair going from the bottom of his lip, connecting to his beard at the bottom of his chin.

Once I identified Marcelo as a suspect, I relocated to the Whitfield County Jail where I obtained a photo lineup. This photo lineup consisted of photo’s of 6 male individuals, with one of the photographs being of Marcelo. The other male individuals were of the same height and weight and around the same age of Marcelo. Once I obtained the photo lineup, I returned to [600 BLOCK] Jeans St and met with [VICTIM #1] and Officer Warnack. I asked [VICTIM #1] if she could describe the male that exposed himself to her. She stated that she guessed the male to be around 170 pounds and had a rather chunky face. She also stated that he had a wide nose and had “hair on his chin.”

I then had Officer Warnack present the photo lineup to [VICTIM #1] due to him not being involved in the case. She was informed to look over the images and if any of the subjects in the images matches the description of the male, then to simply point at the picture but that she was not obligated to make a selection. [VICTIM #1] looked at the photographs and pointed to the photograph of Marcelo, who was number 6 in the lineup. I asked [VICTIM #1] how certain she was that the photograph of the male she pointed at was the suspect. [VICTIM #1] stated that she was 99% certain that the male, Marcelo, that she pointed at was the male she observed expose himself to her.

Given the video evidence I had observed, [VICTIM #1] informing me that she knew that it was her neighbor that resides at [600 BLOCK] Jeans St that commited the act, [VICTIM #1] identifying Marcelo through a photo lineup, and [WITNESS #1] verifying that he drove the silver in color Ford Explorer that [VICTIM #1] had on video leaving [600 BLOCK] Jeans, I had enough probable cause to seek an arrest warrant for Marcelo. I then applied for a warrant which was granted by judge Weaver. At this time, [WITNESS #1] called me via telephone and informed me that Marcelo had arrived back at his residence. I then relocated and made contact with Marcelo. I then informed him of his miranda rights to which he opted to speak to me without representation.

Due to Marcelo not speaking English, Officer Cruz translated for me. I asked Marcelo what he was doing around 0530 this morning. He stated that he was getting ready for work. I then asked if he was outside at any point during this time. He stated that when he was getting ready, he had to use the bathroom but the bathroom was occupied at the time, so he went outside to urinate. I asked if urinate was all that he did and he stated yes. I informed him that I had viewed a video that showed that he did more than urinate. Marcelo continued to state that he only urinated outside.

At this time, I placed Marcelo in handcuffs and informed him that he was under arrest for his warrant for public indecency. I then conducted a search incident to arrest of his person and placed him in the back seat of my vehicle and buckled his seatbelt. Marcelo was not a citizen of the United States but was a citizen of Mexico. He did not wish to notify his consulate.

I then transported him to the Whitfield County Jail. Upon arrival, I placed my service weapon in the lock box located in my vehicle. I then escorted him inside where he was handed over to the booking staff. I then stamped his warrant and filled out the necessary information. After I ensured that the booking staff did not need anything else from me. I returned to my vehicle where I conducted a search of my back seat and retrieved my service weapon before returning to service.

Video of this incident has been saved to the Criminal Intelligence Division’s hard drive at the Dalton Police Department due to the sensitivity of the video.

[End of Narrative]