The man arrested in connection with an indecent-exposure incident at a Davis park this week is employed as a branch manager for the California Department of Public Health, police and state officials confirmed Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the state agency said Nicholas Robert Bowen, 61, was not scheduled to work on Wednesday, when he allegedly photographed or filmed 30-year-old Wenyi Xu as she exposed herself to two young children riding their bikes in Community Park, according to police accounts of the incident.
Bowen has worked as a branch manager for the CDPH’s health information and strategic planning division since January 2012, spokeswoman Anita Gore said. She declined to comment on Bowen’s arrest.
Assistant Police Chief Darren Pytel said Xu identified herself as a researcher for the Department of Public Health, but Gore said the Folsom woman does not currently work there.
Both Bowen and Xu were taken into custody north of Community Park, where a witness told police that Xu fully disrobed in front of the two youths while Bowen captured the act on a cell-phone camera. One child reportedly fell off his bike during the 9:25 a.m. incident but did not appear to be injured, the witness said.
Bowen, a resident of Grizzly Flats in El Dorado County, remained in Yolo County Jail custody Thursday on suspicion of assisting in indecent exposure, annoying a child, lewd acts in public and conspiracy. He declined an interview request from The Davis Enterprise.
He was scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Yolo Superior Court. Xu, who faces similar charges, was released after posting $20,000 bail and is due to be arraigned Aug. 9, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven said.
Meanwhile, online court records show this was not Bowen’s first contact with law enforcement.
He was arrested four times in Sacramento County between 1995 and 1997, the first for a drunken-driving offense that resulted in a sentence of three years’ probation. A motion to expunge the record was granted in 2007, court records show.
The year 1997 brought three arrests within a four-month period on drug and theft-related charges, two of which resulted in additional probation terms. One of the cases, alleging possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, ultimately was dismissed.
Police have asked for information about other possible encounters with Bowen and Xu, either locally or near the suspects’ hometowns, but no one had come forward as of Thursday afternoon — including the two children they allegedly targeted Wednesday morning.
“We’re hoping the kids said something to someone, and they can be encouraged to come forward and provide a statement,” Lt. Glenn Glasgow said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Davis Police Department at 530-747-5400.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene