MADISON, Wis. -- The man who allegedly exposed himself to several women in Madison is in custody Friday, but he could have been in custody even sooner.

VIDEO: Watch The Report

UW police had previously arrested the suspect and then released him, WISC-TV reported.

Brian Carley, 30, a veteran from Richland Center, checked himself into the VA Hospital Friday morning.

Madison police asked WISC-TV to mask his identity, saying victims are coming forward and photo lineups are being conducted.

Carley is alleged to have exposed himself as well as groped women downtown and at East and West Towne Malls.

A week ago Thursday, early in the morning at the UW Memorial Union, what has been happening to women across the city happened to Jon Terrones' wife.

"(She) was approached by this guy in a red SUV, convertible top on, and he exposed himself," Terrones said.

A short while later, UW police cited Carley with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior for this and a similar incident at Union South.

Carley, as is protocol in such cases, was booked and released, WISC-TV reported.

Then this past Monday, following an alleged groping at East Towne Mall, UW officers had Carley surrounded in a campus lot.

"In the meantime, I contacted the city of Madison Police Department notifying them that we have this potential suspect vehicle in our site … Their response was a bit confusing. They could not find any reports to verify this was the person they were looking for," said Sgt. Tamara Kowalski of the UW Police Department. "At that point our hands are tied, and we do have to release that person from our custody."

UW police said that at the same time Madison police were telling them to let Carley go, Carley was talking to a detective with the UW Police Department and placing himself at East Towne Mall earlier in the day.

The husband of one of the victims told WISC-TV he is shocked by what happened.

"I'm kind of shocked at the lack of communication between the two different police organizations. They're part of the same city, and they seemed to drop the ball in the communication between the two organizations," Terrones said.

"I could see why, number one, someone would find that's an interesting scenario," said Howard Payne, a public information officer with the Madison Police Department. "And if that happened in this case, I'm not saying that it did, but if it did definitely happen in this case, that's something that we'll look or seek to make sure is not a problem in future cases."

On Friday, one area man told WISC-TV that the suspect could have been in custody six weeks ago, when he himself held the suspect down after an attack on his friend at West Towne Mall.

Bill Johnson said he thinks the assaults could have ended when police responded to that attack six weeks ago. He said officers arrived and after talking with the suspect "determined that he had some sort of problem."

"You would think they would check him out better ... I mean anyone can say that they are mentally ill when committing a crime … (police) just should check them out better," Johnson said.

But the lead detective in the Madison cases, Maureen Wahl, told WISC-TV that probable cause did not exist to take Carley into custody on Monday.