By the Daily Post staff
A woman in her 60s walking along Middlefield Road in Palo Alto was smacked in the buttocks by a bicyclist, police said.
Police got a call from the woman at 4:33 p.m. on Saturday who reported she was the victim of sexual battery in the 400 block of Middlefield Road (between Lytton and University avenues). Police said officers responded immediately but couldn’t find the bicyclists.
Police said their investigation revealed that the woman, who is in her 60s, had been walking north on the west sidewalk of Middlefield, heading from University to Lytton. A bicyclist rode up behind her, and as he passed her, forcibly grabbed her buttocks with one hand.
The woman yelled at him, but he kept riding. He never said anything to her.
The woman tried to take out her cellphone to photograph the bicyclist as he was riding away, but in the process of doing so, she fell and injured her hand, police said. The woman wasn’t able to get a picture, but last saw him riding near Lytton Avenue. Paramedics treated the woman for her injury.
She described the bicyclist as a tall male in his 30s with a medium build, possibly light brown hair. She said he was either white or Hispanic and was wearing a light orange-sleeved T-shirt and shorts that were either dark blue or dark gray.
Police said there have been no similar cases in Palo Alto recently.
Due to the victim’s age, the suspect could face a misdemeanor charge of elder abuse in addition to misdemeanor sexual battery.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
