Toy aisle activities lead to man's arrest

April 14, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

WASILLA - A man caught allegedly masturbating in the toy aisle at the Wasilla Fred Meyer store Monday was arraigned in Palmer District Court Tuesday.

Wayne T. McField, 43, admitted to store employees that he was masturbating near at least three girls, according to the police report. McField, who had a bail hearing Wednesday, told the employees he had covered himself with a shopping basket after the two employees nabbed him at about 6 p.m., the report said.

The store's loss prevention personnel noticed McField before the incident, according to Jean Achee, the Wasilla police officer who responded to their call and arrested McField. The employees watched him closely, because his actions made them suspicious he might be shoplifting, Achee said.

&#8220All indications are that he was not stalking the girls,” Achee said. &#8220They were there and he started.”

Achee said the girls ranged in age from 5 to 10, based on what the store employees told him.

McField admitted the girls could have seen him, something the employees also said, according to Achee. Since the girls were under 16, the charge is more serious.

&#8220That makes it a felony,” Achee said.

McField had a valid Alaska identification card, but not an Alaska driver's license, Achee said.

A search of Alaska court records shows no previous criminal or civil records for McField.

McField moved to Alaska from out of state around last September, and lived mostly in Anchorage, Achee said. McField moved to the Valley about a month ago.

Achee said McField told him that he works as a carpenter.

Achee took McField into custody and charged him with first-degree indecent exposure. The magistrate set bail at $5,000, and ordered McField to stay out of Fred Meyer and any toy aisles, according to the report. At McField's bail hearing, his daughter proposed to be third-party custodian, although she had never been one before.

Thera Boursaw told Palmer Magistrate David Zwink that she, her husband, their 6-year-old daughter, 2-year-old son and 1-year-old son moved into McField's Wasilla apartment from Michigan in March. Her husband and her father work as carpenters at the hospital, she said.

Zwink appointed a public defender for McField, who told the judge if he got out he would use his paycheck to get an attorney and to get some help.

&#8220You would barely touch a retainer for an attorney with a pay check,” Zwink said.

Zwink left the bail as set, but would not approve Boursaw as a third-party custodian.

&#8220Given the lack of ties and the nature of the charge, I'm not going to put those pressures and risks on your daughter,” he said.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.