Police in Palo Alto are looking for a suspect in a sexual assault earlier this month at the city’s transit center that was reported Wednesday, authorities said.
According to the Palo Alto Police Department, authorities learned about the attack around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when officers were called to the Newark Police Department after a woman reported the assault that occurred on Nov. 4 in Palo Alto.
The victim, a woman in her 30s, told police that on that date around 7:30 p.m., she was waiting for a bus at the downtown Palo Alto transit center when she was approached by an unknown man who asked if she could help him translate through conversation with another man nearby. The victim agreed and followed the man to a nearby tree line.
The victim realized no one else was there when the suspect gestured to a knife clipped to his pocket and threatened to harm her if she did not follow his instructions. The suspect sexually assaulted the victim and then fled on foot in an unknown direction. The victim went home and initially did not report the incident to the police due to threats from the suspect.
The victim described the suspect as a slim black man in his 30s. The suspect was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black cargo pants and a surgical mask at the time of the attack. Police noted that there have been no recent incidents similar to this attack in Palo Alto.
Police are actively investigating the case and ask anyone with information about the attack to call the department’s 24-hour reporting center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be emailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or via text or voicemail to (650) 383-8984.
