in the throes of self-flagellation

へんなやつはどこにもいますね。polluteの流れで、このフレーズはどういう意味でしょうか。Othelloくん、どうぞ。（UG）

Public masturbator to cops: Wait ’til I’m finished

A repeat public masturbator was arrested again Wednesday after officers found him back to his old tricks outside a Columbia City pub, police said.

About 3:35 p.m. Wednesday police were called about a man masturbating in an alley just south of Rainier Avenue South and South Ferdinand Street, “where officers found the 35-year-old suspect sitting on a staircase with his pants around his ankles, in the throes of self-flagellation,” department spokesman Jonah Spagenthal-Lee said. “When officers told the man to stop, he refused and said he was almost finished.”

He was arrested and police spoke with witnesses, who said they had seen the suspect walking around Columbia City earlier in the day yelling and grabbing people. The man was jailed for indecent exposure and scheduled for an initial bail hearing Thursday afternoon.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/2012/11/15/public-masturbator-to-cops-wait-til-im-finished/