Man arrested for fondling himself in parking lot

Tried to get attention of 16-year-old whose mother was shopping in Winn-Dixie

A 22-year-old man was arrested for fondling himself in front of a 16-year-old girl in the parking lot of Winn-Dixie after her mother went inside the store to buy bread.

Nickolas Merrit, of 14183 Hwy. 90 in Paradis, allegedly pulled his vehicle next to the girl’s vehicle at around 7 p.m. after her mother had left and signaled her to come to his vehicle. At that point, the quick-thinking 16-year-old locked all the doors.

The girl told authorities that Merrit then began masturbating in his vehicle while staring at her.

Before he left the parking lot, the girl managed to write down his license plate number and told her mother about the incident when she came back to the car. The mother then went back into Winn-Dixie and called the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Originally, the license plate led police to an address in Des Allemands and a man there told them that he was the father of the vehicle’s registered owner. However, the man told authorities that his son’s separated wife had the vehicle and that her boyfriend, Merritt, drove it often.
Merritt was apprehended later the next day and charged with obscenity.

“The victim did exactly what someone should do in a situation like that,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes said. “She got away from the confrontation and got some information that led to the arrest.”