A 29-year-old Sonoma woman exercising on the Fryer Creek Trail was assaulted by a stranger last night. The call came in shortly after 6:00 PM of a woman on the ground crying on the paved bike path just south of Manor Drive. When deputies made contact with her she was visibly upset and told them that she had just been assaulted. She described that she was exercising on the path with her ear buds in her ears, playing music.
She was originally walking south on the path but had just turned around to walk north when she felt someone run up behind her. As she started to turn around she saw a man approach her, immediately grabbing her buttocks then he attempted to put his hand up her shirt. She lifted her hands and prevented him from doing so. She then punched him in the groin and fell to the ground as the suspect ran north and then west towards Manor Drive.
The woman was left uninjured other than a bruise on her hip from the fall to the ground. She did not need medical attention. She described her attacker as a Hispanic man in his thirties, 5-10" tall, chubby build, with dark hair (shaved on both sides and a curl in the front), mustache and goatee, wearing a medium gray long sleeve hoody, and dark faded shorts that extended to his calves. The man did not have the hoody on his head. The suspect also had a faint odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath.
Deputies searched the area and have not been able to locate or identify the suspect at this point. Sonoma Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez has ordered extra patrols for the multiple bike paths in the Sonoma area and is cautioning residents to be alert while using these paths, especially during hours of darkness.
Anyone with information or possible leads to the case are encouraged to call the Sonoma Police Department at 707-996-3602.
