Police seek sexual battery suspect in attack near Stanford Shopping Center
The incident was similar to one that also happened in Palo Alto on Sunday
A woman standing on a sidewalk near the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto was groped Monday in what police said was the second sexual battery in that city in less than 48 hours.
Police released a sketch of the suspect, who they said is in his 50s.
In a statement, police said the suspect in Tuesday’s assault was on a bike and groped the woman who was standing in the 500 block of Sand Hill Road about 2:20 p.m.
The woman called police immediately, but the bicyclist was gone before officers arrived, police said.
According to police, the woman stood on the sidewalk at the southwest corner of Sand Hill Road and Plum Lane when she felt someone touch her lower back, buttocks and breasts in one swift motion. Police said she cried out and turned to see who had touched her and saw the bicyclist speeding away.
He yelled back to her, “Get out of the way!” police said.
Police described the suspect as 6 feet tall, with a muscular build, bald and in his 50s. He wore blue shorts with tan skin, was without a shirt and rode a black road bike, police said.
The attack was the second in a span of about 46 hours in the city. On Saturday about 4:30 p.m., a woman reported being grabbed in the buttocks by a person on a bike in the 400 block of Middlefield Road, police said. In that incident, the suspect did not say anything, police said.
The description of that suspect was different than the one on Tuesday — Sunday’s attacker was described by police as in his 30s, with a medium build and light brown hair.
Police said they are investigating to see whether the two attacks are linked and whether the suspect in both of them is the same person.
Police asked anyone with information to call the dispatch center at 650-3292413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@ tipnow.org or by voicemail at 650-383-8984.