Police Investigating Daytime Sexual Assault by Stranger

Published on April 09, 2023

Palo Alto, CA – Police are investigating a brazen sexual assault that occurred this afternoon in the California Avenue pedestrian underpass.  The suspect is unknown and at large.  The victim sustained moderate physical injuries.

On Sunday, April 9, 2023, at about 2:49 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a passerby reporting that he had discovered a woman in the California Avenue pedestrian underpass who said she had just been sexually assaulted there.  Police responded immediately.

The investigation revealed that the victim, a woman in her fifties, had been walking her bicycle eastbound through the underpass.  She was passed by the suspect, who was walking his bike westbound.  The suspect then struck the victim from behind, causing her to fall to the ground.  He then sexually assaulted her.  The victim yelled for help, at which point the suspect stole her cell phone and fled in an unknown direction.  The passerby, who had not witnessed the assault, soon came to her aid and called police.  Officers were able to locate her cell phone in the 3000 block of Emerson Street at about 3:05 p.m. and are processing it for evidence.

Paramedics from the Palo Alto Fire Department transported the victim to a local hospital, where she is receiving treatment for a laceration to the back of her head and bruising to her neck.  She is also receiving a forensic medical examination.

The victim described the suspect as an Asian male between 30 and 40 years of age, about 5 feet 5 inches tall with a stocky build.  She said he was cleanshaven, and was wearing a dark bike helmet, dark sunglasses, and a high-visibility yellow top. The victim met with a police sketch artist on April 10, and the artist produced the above sketch of the suspect.

Police are actively investigating this case, including canvassing the area for any available surveillance footage that may have captured the suspect before or after the assault.  There have been no similar crimes reported to police recently in Palo Alto.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413.  Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.