Palo Alto police are looking for a man with a pot belly who they say approached a woman at a park in the College Terrace neighborhood, starting taking to her, and then "aggressively touched and kissed her" before she was able to shove him away.
Lt. Zach Perron said the woman was not injured and the suspect is at large.
Perron said the encounter occurred on Friday about 11:30 a.m. when the woman called 911. When police went to the area, the man was not there.
The woman, in her 30s, told police that she had been sitting on a bench at Werry Park at 2100 Dartmouth Street when the man came up and started talking to her. Soon, the man asked if she was married and if she thought they could become "good friends," Perron said.
The woman, now very uncomfortable with the situation, stood up to leave. Then, she told police that the man put one of his hands down the back of her shirt, reaching halfway down her back before she was able to pull away. He then "aggressively put both of his arms" around her, "essentially hugging her and pinning her upright against the bench," Perron said.
The woman told police that he then kissed her neck and grabbed her chin towards him to try to kiss her on the mouth. She shoved him in the chest, which is when he walked away, police said.
She called 911, but couldn't get a signal from the park. Police said she called again as soon as she could.
She described the man as a Middle Eastern man, between 45 and 55 years of age, about 5 feet 3 inches or 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighing about 170 to 180 pounds with a potbelly. He was slightly unshaven and had short salt and pepper hair. The victim said he was wearing a brown and blue plaid button-down dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, brown pants, and brown shoes.
Detectives are investigating this incident. There have been no similar recent cases reported to police.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through our free mobile app, downloadable at bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.
