Police look for man on bicycle groping people at two Sacramento college campuses
Police at two college campuses in Sacramento are looking for a man riding a bicycle who groped people in separate incidents this month, and it’s possible the same suspect could be responsible for the assaults.
Three reported incidents occurred five days apart at Sacramento State and at Cosumnes River College. Police reports of the assaults indicate a man was riding a bicycle on campus and inappropriately touched these victims in a similar manner before leaving the area.
Security camera images of the suspect in two of the incidents show a man riding a similar-looking bike at both campuses.
The Los Rios Police Department, which provides police services to Cosumnes River College and the entire Los Rios Community College District, believe the suspect captured security camera images at the college and Sacramento State look similar, said Kristie West, a spokeswoman for the college.
“It does look like the same suspect to us, and the Los Rios Police Department is working to find the suspect or suspects,” West told The Sacramento Bee on Thursday.
Two Sacramento State assaults
Sacramento State Police Chief Chet Madison told The Bee on Friday that the two assaults that occurred there on the same day last week appear to be related based on the clothing description of the suspect, who had not yet been identified. Madison also said his department is working closely with Los Rios police officers, who are investigating a similar crime on one of its campuses.
The first assault occurred shortly after noon March 2 near River Front Center on the Sacramento State campus. The victim told officers that the suspect was riding a small teal-colored “cruiser style bicycle” when he approached the victim from behind, according to the Sacramento State Police Department.
Police said the victim was walking near the center, when the suspect slapped the victim’s buttock as he rode by on the bike. Police described the suspect in the first incident as a man possibly in his early 20s who had a purple backpack and was wearing a black hooded-sweatshirt and black pants. The Police Department released a photo of the suspect.
Another sexual battery was reported several hours later at Sacramento State. Police said the second incident occurred about 8:30 p.m. on Elvas Avenue near the Hornet Crossing.
The victim told officers the suspect was riding a small “BMX style bicycle” when he approached the victim from behind, Sacramento State police said. The victim was walking toward 65th Street after exiting the tunnel, when the suspect slapped the victim’s buttock as he rode by.
Police described the suspect in the second incident as a man with dark hair wearing a black hooded-sweatshirt and a green “beanie cap” with a mushroom emblem.
Cosumnes River College assault
The third incident occurred about 1:30 p.m. Monday near the Bruceville Road entrance sidewalk at Cosumnes River College. A man, on a bicycle, was talking to two female students on the sidewalk, just west of the F parking lot, according to Los Rios police campus crime bulletin.
Without any prompting, the male bicyclist touched one of the female students on buttocks before riding away on the bicycle, police said. The two students flagged down a passing police vehicle to report the assault.
Police said the suspect left on the bike, heading northeast toward a light rail station. Officers searched the campus and the surrounding area but did not find the suspect.
Los Rios police described the suspect in the third incident as a man standing about 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-9 with a stocky body, about 24 to 27 years old, wearing a pink hooded-sweatshirt, dark-colored pants and dark-colored shoes. Police said the suspect was riding a light-blue “cruiser bike.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 5:08 PM.
