Covina police were asking for the public’s help on Wednesday in finding a “violent sexual predator” who assaulted a woman as she returned to her apartment complex, authorities said.
The sexual battery occurred around 4:30 a.m. on June 30, according to the Covina Police Department.
Surveillance video released by police on Tuesday showed the woman returning to the apartment, while the attacker slipped in through the sliding parking gate outside the complex.
“You see how brazen this subject is… he follows the victim in,” Covina police Sgt. Rob Bobkiewicz told KTLA.
Bobkiewicz went on to describe the battery, and how the 28-year-old victim was able to fend off the attacker.
“As she walks into the apartment complex, he stops, puts on a bandana, follows her in, and proceeds to grope her breasts, her crotch area, push her to the ground, a struggle ensues, and she bites his finger and then he runs away,” he said.
The man then jumped over the parking lot fence and got away, according to the video.
Police released the surveillance video with the hopes that it would help them catch the man who assaulted the woman.
He was described by Bobkiewicz only as having a medium to heavy build, and wearing baggy clothes and a yellow bandana.
“He’s obviously a violent sexual predator, and with my experience, he’s done this prior and he’s probably going to do this again,” Bobkiewicz said.
Anyone with information about the incident was asked to call the Covina Police Department at 626-384-5595.
KTLA’s Kennedy Ryan contributed to this report.