2 men arrested for separate obscenity charges on LSU campus, officials say

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - LSU Police arrested two men on Wednesday, March 8, after they allegedly exposed themselves in separate on-campus cases.

Michael Howard, 26, of Baton Rouge, was charged with obscenity, resisting an officer, and simple criminal damage to property.

According to arrest records, a female LSU student was walking near South Campus Drive and Highland Road when she was complimented about her body from a man who was touching himself in a car on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 31.

Detectives said tips from Crime Stoppers helped them identify the suspect in the vehicle as Howard.

RELATED: CRIME STOPPERS: LSU PD asking for help identifying person tied to sex-related offense

Arrest records state Howard sped off on a bike when police tried to contact him at his home on March 8. He reportedly ditched the bike when police units cut him off, and he fled on foot, jumping a wooden fence.

He led police on a foot pursuit, which went into the Louisiana School of the Deaf property, and he continued to jump fences into people’s yards, arrest records show.

Police said they took Howard into custody after a homeowner of a backyard he jumped into called officers and reported the wooden fence to his gate was damaged.

In another case, LSU police charged Michael Smith Jr., 19, of New Orleans, with obscenity.

According to arrest records, he is accused of exposing himself in the “enchanted forest” while purposely making eye contact with two women in the area on March 1.

The women reported the interaction to police, who identified Smith as the suspect.

During an interview with detectives, Smith claimed he had a sex toy out while on the side of a tree in the “enchanted forest” and exposed himself to urinate on a tree, according to arrest records.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2022 WAFB. All rights reserved.