Portland police identified a Sebago man Friday as a person of interest in an Oct. 7 indecent exposure incident and hit-and-run.

Tyler Malmstrom Photo courtesy Portland Police Department

Lt. Robert Martin said Tyler Malmstrom, 28, was being sought for questioning about that incident when he was stopped by officers at 10 a.m. Tuesday on Forest Avenue. He was driving a gray 2004 Chevrolet pickup truck when he was arrested for operating after suspension and theft by receiving stolen property. A probation hold was placed on him, police said.

Malmstrom has not been charged in connection with the indecent exposure incident in Portland, and that investigation is continuing, Martin said.

Police had been looking for Malmstrom as part of the investigation into a series of reports that a man exposed himself to women in public in several southern Maine towns. In nearly all of the incidents, the man was described as having a “man bun” or ponytail and driving a dark colored pickup truck.

Police have said a man fitting a similar description approached women or girls in Portland, Sanford and Gorham, and made sexual advances, sexual comments or exposed himself. A fourth incident that happened in Scarborough also is under investigation, although in that incident a woman reported suspicious behavior, but the man involved is not accused of committing a crime.

Martin said the investigation into the alleged acts of indecent conduct is ongoing and detectives will work with prosecutors from the District Attorney’s Office to decide on charges.

“While incidents such as these are rare it is important to remember to be aware of your surroundings, walk in groups and in well-lit or populated areas,” Martin said.

The Sanford Police Department issued a separate statement Friday saying that Malmstrom had been charged with three counts of stalking and one count of criminal threatening related to the similar incidents in that town.

“We’re happy that we were able to identify and charge him,” Sanford Detective Everett Allen said.

It is not clear if and when Malmstrom will face other criminal charges, or when he will appear in court on the charges that have been filed.

The first incident happened Oct. 7, when a woman out for a morning jog on Brighton Avenue near Capisic Street in Portland reported that she was followed by a man in his 20s or 30s driving a rusty Chevrolet extended-cab pickup truck. The woman told police the man followed her for more than a mile and exposed his genitals to her from the vehicle. She described the driver as having dark hair that was kept in a ponytail or a bun.

The woman ran to the fire station on Stevens Avenue and reported the incident, and the man drove off, police said. The suspect was then involved in a minor car crash at the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot at 1412 Congress St., but did not stop.

Later that day, police in Scarborough received a report that a man in a pickup truck approached a woman as she was entering the Marshalls at 700 Gallery Blvd. and called out to her, Scarborough Police Detective Sgt. Rick Rouse said.

The next series of incidents occurred on the University of Southern Maine campus in Gorham, where two female students reported that a man exposed himself after calling each of them to his truck. The separate cases occurred within minutes of each other around 9:15 a.m. Oct. 10, campus police said.

Police in Sanford are also investigating various incidents throughout the city that are believed to be connected. In those cases, Sanford police said they received multiple reports of a man who was making sexually inappropriate comments to women walking in various parts of the city.

Police there also responded to a report that a man with a similar physical description was seen touching himself in a sexual way at two Aroma Joe’s coffee stands, where he also attempted to gain entry to the drive-through businesses. Police said the man fled before police arrived, and no employees of the businesses were harmed.

Martin said Portland police are working with police from the University of Southern Maine, Sanford, Scarborough, Westbrook, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and Maine State Probation.

The license plate attached to Malmstrom’s vehicle had been stolen from a similar vehicle in Standish, which resulted in the theft charge, Martin said.

Malmstrom has a criminal record in Maine dating to 2010, including felony convictions for aggravated assault and burglary.