Police are investigating a series of frightening flashing incidents in front of a young woman walking on a beach in one of Auckland's most exclusive coastal suburbs.
The incident, which occurred at Omaha Beach between 11am and midday on Thursday, was described in detail in a post on the settlement's community Facebook page.
In the post, one of the page's moderators describes how the woman was confronted multiple times by a naked man, including on one occasion when he deliberately removed a towel wrapped around his waist and walked towards her on the deserted beach.
"Our complainant was very frightened and disgusted by this man's predatory and offensive behaviour, and she has asked that this story be shared with the Omaha community to hopefully prevent an approach such as this (or worse) being made towards a younger or more vulnerable female."
Omaha Beach has long been a favourite for the high-profile and high-income, with past and present residents of the area - described by some as being Auckland's version of New York's "Hamptons" - including former Prime Minister Sir John Key, America's Cup skipper Dean Barker, fashion designer Trelise Cooper, fertility medicine pioneer Richard Fisher, former BBQ Factory owners Roger and Lorraine Richwhite, and Navman founder Peter Maire.
Thursday's incident occurred when the young woman was halfway between the southern end of the beach and the surf club, the Facebook post said.
She spotted the man, described as aged in his early 40s, with dark brown hair and olive skin, about 170 to 175cm tall and with a "bit of a belly", sitting in front of the sand dunes wearing only a black cap.
The woman ignored him and kept walking but soon after noticed he was standing 50m in front of her, with a towel wrapped around his waist. She believed he used a car to get ahead of where she was walking on the beach.
Turning towards her, he dropped his towel and began walking directly towards her, according to the post.
The "frightened" woman kept walking and avoided eye contact with the man.
"She was becoming quite frightened as she could see no other people present, and was becoming very concerned she might be about to be attacked."
The pair passed each other some metres apart, with no contact or communication made, and the woman decided to leave the beach.
But as she did so the man, who had been heading up to the walkways became aware of what she was doing and "again faced her and dropped his towel".
The woman managed to safely leave the beach.
It was the first time the woman, who grew up in the area, had felt unsafe while at the beach, the community page's moderator said.
"It will take her some time before she feels sufficiently confident to return to her walks."
Other people responded to the post to say they'd also seen a man behaving suspiciously at the beach recently.
A police spokeswoman confirmed yesterday's incident had been reported to them.
"We will be making inquiries, however have no further comment at this stage."
