Being “caught with your pants down” is a common idiom for expressing embarrassment, but for 22-year old Genero Anthony Rosciti the phrase became very literal at around 8:00 p.m. Tuesday night November 15th.

"An off duty officer and family were in the area of 39th Street and Virginia Drive, when they observed a male standing on the street with his pants down around his ankles," said Missoula Police Public Information Officer Travis Welsh. "The male, when he saw that he had attracted some attention, ran from the off-duty officer, who was on his cell phone calling 911, eventually other officers arrived and they were able to take the man into custody in an open field adjacent to Dore Lane."

Welsh says Rosciti tried to run while his pants were down, which likely helped police to catch him. Rosciti is now being questioned in relation to a number of prowling incidents reported near 39th Street, at least two of which have eyewitnesses.

"Those were incidents where somebody actually observed him outside windows looking in, typically they were women in their homes that he was looking at through the windows, and that represents a lot more possibility of some different types of crime."

Currently Rosciti is charged with Obstructing a Police Officer and Disorderly Conduct, if he is linked to the prowling cases more charges may follow.

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