Monterey neighborhood on edge after suspect gropes minor and escapes
MONTEREY, Calif. (KION) - Scary moments in a Monterey neighborhood after police say a young girl was sexually assaulted outside her home. The suspect is still on the loose as of Monday evening.
"That’s horrible, this is a really safe area i don’t know what’s going on," said Rebecca, a resident who lives in the neighborhood where the incident happened.
"I couldn’t believe it the kids are here sleeping in the car and they usually hang out and we go work and now we can’t do that so i have to wait until she gets here so she can watch the kids and I can’t work," said Jessa Aliotti, who works in the neighborhood.
Parents telling KION they’re nervous about letting their kids out in the neighborhood.
"There are kids who live up here, its really concerning," said Rebecca.
"It's not it's not something that happens very often outside somebody's residence," said Lieutenant Jake Pinkas.
Police say a minor was sexually assaulted outside of her home while checking for mail.
"As she got to the mailbox, she saw the who was going to be the suspect. The suspect made a comment to her. She responded there was no mail in the mailbox. And as she was returning back to her residence, the suspect grabbed her," said Pinkas.
That’s when investigators say the suspect began to grope her.
A family member told police they saw the man running towards pacific grove.
"We're trying to get information and we have a number of requests into businesses throughout the area to see if potentially the suspect was there right before or right after or outside cameras of the suspect either walked by prior to or ran past afterwards," said Pinkas.
"She has six grandkids all under the age of 4, so I guess we are going to have to be a lot more careful," said Aliotti.
Police tell me they have a number of requests in to local businesses hoping one of them caught the suspect on camera.
Police have released a vague suspect description. He is described as a white man, around 30-years-old, 5’9” tall, and had brown curly hair.
