Soquel Man Arrested In Alleged Sexual Battery Of Santa Cruz Jogger

A 30-year-old man arrested Thursday in the sexual battery of a woman jogging in Santa Cruz is also a suspect in a similar incident that occurred the same day outside the city, according to police.

Lee Cast, of the unincorporated Soquel area, was booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of sexual battery and his bail was set a $7,500, according to police.

On Thursday at 7:15 a.m., Santa Cruz police responded to a report of a man who had slapped a 35-year-old female on the buttocks as she jogged in the area of Bay Street and Lighthouse Avenue about 45 minutes earlier, police said.

The victim told police that a man appeared from some bushes, made a derogatory comment and then slapped her on the behind, which caused her some pain that did not require medical attention, officers said. She ran away from the suspect, who did not pursue her, and waited to call police until she was safe at home, officers said.

Santa Cruz police flooded the area with officers but could not locate the man, according to police.

At 10 a.m. that day, in the area of Portola and Corcoran avenues outside Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a similar incident involving a suspect matching the description of the earlier incident, police said.

A man had emerged from some bushes near Portola and 26th avenues and slapped a 36-year-old woman jogging there in the buttocks. The woman also ran from the scene without further assault, according to officers.

A witness to the alleged battery at Portola and 26th took a photo of the suspect and phoned 911. Sheriff’s deputies who responded to the call located Cast, officers said. The deputies, who had not been contacted by the female victim in the incident, detained Cast for a mental health evaluation, they said.

The sheriff’s office notified Santa Cruz police about Cast and noted the similarities in the two cases. Police then identified him as the suspect in the first incident in Santa Cruz and arrested him, according to police.

Sheriff’s deputies located the victim in their case today and she helped them identify Cast as the suspect, police said. Deputies will be requesting a warrant for his arrest, officers said.

--Bay City News

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