DELAND, Fla. – Five men were arrested at a park in Volusia County Friday during an undercover operation set up by law enforcement, deputies said.
Deputies said the operation took place at Lake Beresford Park, west of DeLand, and was conducted by the Sheriff's Office Crime Suppression Team after deputies had received reports of men openly engaging in lewd activity at the park.
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The Sheriff's Office placed undercover male deputies around the multi-purpose trail and adjacent wooded areas because deputies said there was heavy activity in that area.
Deputies said it didn't take long for men to approach them and begin a conversation. The men then exposed themselves to the deputy and began masturbating, deputies said. The men were arrested and charged with indecent exposure.
After one man exposed himself to the deputy, he asked the deputy, "You going to get yours out?" a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office said.
"Can I see yours?" another man asked the deputy, according to the spokesman.
The Sheriff's Office said that another man leaned in and hugged the deputy before exposing himself, kissed the side of the deputy's neck and squeezed him inappropriately. The man received an additional charge of battery.
The five men, John Brunell, 53, of DeLand, Nicholas Drouin, 64, of DeLand, Ronald Katrek, 65, of DeBary, Richard Lovely, 67, of Orange City, and Jose Santiago Arias, 36, of DeLand, were arrested and transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach, deputies said.