GOLETA The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department has received two reports of assaults on women less than 72 hours apart and, due to similar suspect descriptions and locations, authorities believe the assaults were perpetrated by the same man.
The first incident occurred around 12:45 p.m. Saturday when a 22-year-old woman was jogging on the dirt path along a creek in the area of Phelps Road and Ocean Walk Lane. A man grabbed her by the arm and attempted to pull her closer. She punched him and he punched her in the face before she escaped and called 9-1-1, said Lt. Erik Raney, sheriff’s spokesman.
At approximately 10:30 p.m. Monday, an 18-year-old woman was sitting near her vehicle in the Haskell’s Beach parking area waiting for friends. A man in a dark-colored vehicle approached, reached under the front of her shirt and sexually assaulted her. He fled after the woman kicked him in the groin, Lt. Raney said.
The sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the attacker.
Both victims said the suspect is a white man between 40 and 60 years old. He is approximately 5 feet 10 to 6 feet tall and weighs between 175 and 200 pounds. He has a dirty white beard and was wearing mussed clothing or dirty in appearance and is associated with an older model four-door vehicle similar to a Chevy Volt.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 805-683-2724. To leave an anonymous tip, call 805-681-4171.
