Berkeley, California (Wednesday, December 08, 2021) - On the afternoon of December 8th, detectives arrested a 32-year-old Oakland man in connection with two cases where the suspect approached teenage girls walking to and from school—attempting to gain their compliance by telling them he was a police officer. The suspect was not known to the victims.
On the evening of September 29th, the suspect approached a high-school age teen on the 1300 block of Gilman Street, followed her on-foot, engaged her in a conversation, blocked her path, demanded a hug, and told her that he was a police officer and had a gun (see prior news release).
On the morning of December 6th, the same suspect followed another girl on-foot in the area of McGee Avenue and Channing Way while on her way to school. In this case, the suspect again wanted a hug, told the girl he was a police officer, blocked her path in a less visible part of the sidewalk (where there were many plants and trees), and made a threat that he had a knife (see prior news release).
Thankfully, in both cases, the girls were able to safely get away from the suspect.
Throughout this investigation, detectives have received a number of helpful tips and videos from the community to assist in the investigation.
While reviewing the video surveillance submitted to us by the community, detectives saw that the suspect followed the teenage girls in his red Mustang for several blocks in both cases.
In addition to this, detectives were aided by the excellent awareness of the victims and through a third victim who came forward on December 7th—after reading a Berkeleyside article about the recent cases. The incident involving the third teenage victim occurred on the morning of August 25th—where the license plate of the suspect’s vehicle was photographed.
Thanks to the detailed observations of these three teens, detectives were able to identify the suspect (see Megan’s Law profile).
With the assistance of CA Department of Parole and the Alameda County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force, detectives arrested the suspect in the City of San Francisco on the afternoon of December 8th. Detectives then served a search warrant at the suspect’s temporary residence in Oakland, where they located several pieces of clothing that were worn during the commission of these crimes.
As result of the investigation, detectives arrested the suspect on suspicion of PC 288.3—communicating with a minor with the intent to commit a sex act, PC 647.6(c)(2)—annoying/molesting a child with a prior offense, and PC 3056—Violation of Parole.
