Man Exposes Self To Woman With Toddler In Silicon Valley: Police Searching For Suspect

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA -- Police in Palo Alto are investigating a report a man exposed himself to a woman Wednesday while she was hiking with her toddler. The victim, a woman in her 30s, told the Palo Alto Police Department she was on a hiking trail at the Palo Alto Baylands at 2775 Embarcadero Road around 3:30 p.m. when she saw a man touching himself in the bushes, police said.

The victim said she had been walking with her toddler on the trail that runs east to west along the northern boundary of the Palo Alto Airport and the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, police said.

"As she passed some bushes alongside the trail, she heard someone clear their throat," police said in a news release.

"She then saw a naked man in the bushes, about 20 to 30 feet away from her. He was masturbating and made eye contact with her. He did not say anything or approach her. The victim and her toddler immediately walked away."

The victim asked two joggers to escort her back through the area where the suspect had been, and they saw him fully clothed and smoking a cigarette near a pedestrian and bicycle bridge, police said.

The victim told police they did not interact with the man, and she later called police.

The suspect is described as a white man in his mid-20s, around 6 feet tall, with a thin build and dirty blonde hair that was tied in a ponytail in a "man bun."

The man was unshaven, and he wore eyeglasses. He was wearing a black zip-up sweater and dark shorts. He had tattoos on his arms and his legs.

Police said there was a similar incident that occurred in the area in January, but that incident does not appear to be related to the Wednesday incident.

Mark Nero (Patch Staff) and Bay City News contributed to this report /Image via Palo Alto police