A Menlo Park man was arrested on Friday afternoon after he allegedly exposed himself to a 4-year-old boy at El Camino Park, Palo Alto police said in a news release.

Police were notified about the incident at about 1:36 p.m., when they received a call from a man who told them that another man had just exposed himself before fleeing the park. The caller said the man had hopped the fence at the edge of the park onto the rail tracks.

Officers arrived and detained the man as he was riding away on a bicycle in the 100 block of Alma Street, according to the news release. When they located the man, his pants were not buttoned and his zipper was down, police said.

The police investigation had determined that the caller was at the park with his son and their dog. As the father was getting the dog some water, he saw that his son had walked over to a table and was talking to a stranger. The father then noticed that the man's penis was exposed and that he was touching himself while talking to the boy. He reportedly yelled at the man, who then ran away through the park.

Officers later determined that the man had engaged the boy in the conversation, according to the news release. Police arrested the 59-year-old man on suspicion of indecent exposure and annoying a child, which are both misdemeanors. He was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the department’s 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.

Editor's note: Palo Alto Online's policy is to withhold the names of those arrested for most crimes until the district attorney has determined there is sufficient evidence to file charges in the case. Read our guidelines.