07/19/09Police seek man with fetish for exercise balls

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DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - Police are looking for a man with a self-professed sexual fetish for slashing rubber balls. Police have been seeking the 31-year-old since surveillance tape allegedly showed him breaking into a fitness clinic in May and slashing exercise balls.

Authorities are familiar with the man. A criminal complaint released Thursday said he was convicted in 2005 of breaking into a sports facility at the University of Minnesota in Duluth and slashing about 70 balls. Each ball cost between $30 and $60.

The complaint says when he pleaded guilty in that case, he admitted slashing more than 40 other balls at two clinics.

Court documents said the man told police he slashed the rubber balls to satisfy a sexual urge. Experts said he has an unusual attraction to inflatable exercise devices.