SUSPECT IN SEXUAL BATTERY ARRESTED

Sheriff ’s deputies on Monday night arrested a 25-yearold man suspected of touching himself inappropriately and pressing his genitals against women on at least three occasions at North County stores in the week before Christmas.

The man’s name was not immediately released, but authorities said he was arrested on suspicion of lewd behavior in a public place and providing false identifying information to police, San Diego sheriff ’s Sg t. Albert Carrillo said in a news release.

He was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, Carrillo said in a statement that suggested the man may have also been wanted in connection with similar attacks being investigated by the San Diego Police Department.

“An additional eight counts of sexual battery are pending,” Carrillo said.

According to investigators, the man attacked victims on at least three occasions by approaching them from behind, grabbing their shoulders and then pressing himself against their backsides, sheriff ’s Lt. Ricardo Lopez said in a news release last week.

When the women would turn around to confront the man, he claimed to have confused them for a friend, Lopez said.

Surveillance videos from the stores showed the man touching his genitals underneath his clothing before and after touching his victims, according to Lopez.

The first of the reported incidents happened about 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 18 at the Target on University Drive in Vista, according to Lopez. On Christmas Eve, the same man allegedly attacked two more women — one around 4:30 p.m. at the Michaels on University Drive in Vista, and the second around 6:30 p.m. at the Ralphs on South Twin Oaks Valley Road in San Marcos. Last week, sheriff ’s officials released surveillance videos and detailed descriptions of the man. That appeared to have paid off around 5 p.m. Monday, when a customer at the Walmart on Center Drive in San Marcos called after recognizing “a man believed to be the suspect in the sexual battery series,” Carrillo said.