Police arrest suspect in Seattle groping incidents

 

SEATTLE -- Seattle police arrested a suspected groper after he pulled up to his Tacoma apartment in a red truck like the one described by several of his alleged victims.

Detectives said they believe the 23-year-old Tacoma man first approached a woman in alleyway in the University District on September 18, groped her and then fled in the very same truck.

About a month later, on October 20, police received a report in in the Ballard area that a man in a red truck had groped a high school student walking back to campus. Minutes later, police received a call in the same area from a woman, who said a man had groped her as she was pushing a child down the street in a stroller.

The following day, Ballard High School security officers spotted the truck near campus, snapped a picture, and provided it to police.

SPD detectives were able to identify the suspect and officers arrested him at his Tacoma home Sunday. Police booked him into the King County Jail for three counts of assault with sexual motivation.

Detectives are also investigating the suspect for a fourth groping in the Haller Lake area on October 20.