photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A Lawrence Police Department patrol vehicle is pictured June 28, 2022.

A Lawrence homeless man is facing a slew of misdemeanor charges after he allegedly masturbated in front of a restaurant window early Sunday evening and battered multiple police officers.

The man, Michael Edward Evans, 44, whose address is listed on the jail booking log as the Lawrence Community Shelter, is facing one count of lewd and lascivious behavior, three counts of battery on a law enforcement officer, one count of interference with law enforcement and one count of consuming liquor in a prohibited public place. All six charges are misdemeanors.

According to Lawrence Police Department spokeswoman Laura McCabe, officers were called to the area of 31st and Iowa streets a little after 5 p.m. on Sunday about a man masturbating in public.

“The suspect was allegedly looking through a restaurant window while performing the illegal activity,” McCabe said, without identifying the restaurant.

Two officers nearby spotted a man who fit the description. When they contacted him, he was verbally aggressive, uncooperative and spat on both officers, she said.

He was eventually taken into custody without injury, but spat on another officer in the process, while screaming that he had given them all a disease, McCabe said.

The suspect, identified in court documents as Evans, also had an open container of alcohol and drug paraphernalia on him, she said.

He was first taken in for a mental health evaluation, then booked into the Douglas County Jail. He was scheduled to have a first court appearance on Tuesday.