Walnut Creek police have released a sketch to help them track down the man who flashed a 14-year-old girl on June 18th. It happened along the Iron Horse Trail, near Downtown Walnut Creek, which is frequented by bicyclists, walkers and joggers. The girl was walking along the trail when the man started talking to her.
"He approached her, offered her cigarettes and drugs. She got scared, turned around, started to head back home and he followed her to her apartment," said Walnut Creek Police Sgt. Jay Hill.
That's when he exposed himself. She ran inside to get away and the girl was able to give a good description of what the man looked like.
"He was described as wearing an orange safety vest with a black or a dark shirt on underneath and black pants. He's a Hispanic male about 40, heavy set, over 200 lbs., spoke with a Spanish accent," said Hill.
It is not someone resident Leticia Escobar recognizes. She walks the trail daily and generally feels very safe, but this had her nervous. She said, "especially because I have an 11-year-old niece who walks to school right back here."
The trail runs right along Walnut Creek Intermediate School. Escobar says she remembers some construction work happening near the trail last week. That is something police have investigated because of the man's orange construction-type vest.
"We have visited a couple construction sites, showed the photo around to see if anybody recognized him and to this point, nobody has recognized him," said Hill.
However, police will keep looking.
"I see police patrol here occasionally along the trail," said Ryan Montrucchio who lives across the street. "Sometimes you see shadowy looking characters cruising around on bikes and what have you, but other than that, not too often though."
The girl was able to give a detailed description of the man and she is sure the sketch closely resembles the suspect. Police say the suspect was smoking L & M cigarettes.
