Exposure counts filed against ex-doctor

Saturday, July 22nd 2006, 6:20 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A former Tennessee physician suspected of indecent exposure incidents in six Oklahoma cities has been charged with three felony counts of indecent exposure.

Steven Dale Brazeal, 44, of Foyil, was charged in Tulsa County on Friday in connection with three incidents in Broken Arrow, The Oklahoman reported on its web site Saturday.

A felony charge of eluding police also was filed against Brazeal, Tulsa County district attorney's spokeswoman Susan Witt said.

Brazeal is believed to be connected to a series of other indecent exposure incidents in Oklahoma City, Norman, Warr Acres, Nichols Hills and The Village, police said.

More than a dozen reports have been taken since July 6, in which witnesses said a man matching Brazeal's description exposed himself.

Brazeal was not in custody Friday evening, but officers were attempting to serve warrants for his arrest, Broken Arrow police Maj. Mark Irwin said.

Broken Arrow police identified Brazeal after two teenage girls told them Wednesday a man exposed himself outside an apartment complex, Irwin said. An officer stopped a car driven by Brazeal a short time later.

Brazeal handed the officer a Tennessee driver's license before speeding off, police said.

Brazeal is a 1988 University of Oklahoma graduate who earned a bachelor of science degree, spokeswoman Catherine Bishop said. Brazeal earned a medical degree in 1992 from OU, completing his last two years of work at the Tulsa campus.

Brazeal moved to Tennessee, where his medical license was revoked in March. The medical board there cited criminal convictions for eluding police and assault in Texas.

In 1993, Brazeal was charged in Tulsa County with a felony count of lewd molestation. That case was dismissed, records show.

Nichols Hills police Lt. Bruce Funderburk said Friday he plans to pursue at least one indecent exposure felony charge against Brazeal in Oklahoma County. He said a witness positively identified Brazeal as the man she saw at a Nichols Hills retail shop on July 15.

In a July 6 incident in The Village, a nude man walked in the front door of a salon and fondled himself as he left, co-owner Lisa Reed said Friday.

Reed and employee Sasha Gill screamed, and Reed called police, although the man fled before officers arrived. Both women said a photograph of Brazeal taken by Irving, Texas, police in 2004 resembles the nude man they saw.