Glendale police seek Ralphs supermarket battery suspect

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who allegedly forced a woman to touch his genitals Monday outside a Ralphs supermarket in Glendale.

The man reportedly approached the woman at 6 a.m. as she was entering her parked car at Ralphs in the 1200 block of North Central Avenue, according to Glendale police.

While she was still seated in the driver’s seat, the man reportedly grabbed her left wrist and told her, “Don’t be scared. I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

Next, he pulled her left hand toward his genitals and forced her to touch him over his pants, police said. After reportedly forcing the woman to touch him, the man walked away.

He had contacted the woman before Monday’s incident and had engaged her in small talk since March in her neighborhood, police said.

Detectives haven’t received any reports similar to the sexual-battery incident, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

The woman described the man as Middle Eastern, 30 to 35 years old, about 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 160 to 170 pounds. He has a round face with no facial hair and short brown hair, which was parted on one side.

The man drives a red Mercedes-Benz C250 and may live in the area of Columbus Avenue and West Dryden Street, police said.

Anyone with information about the man may call Det. Chris Krivak in the Police Department’s assaults detail at (818) 548-3106.

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