Sexual assault suspect turns himself in after incident near South Coast Plaza
A man suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in a parking lot outside South Coast Plaza turned himself into police early Thursday, authorities confirmed.
Costa Mesa police said a man followed a 24-year-old woman to her car shortly after 5:30 p.m. Aug. 2 and began forcibly touching her. The woman was able to fight him off, police said. She was not injured.
On Wednesday, police publicized security camera footage from the Costa Mesa shopping center in an attempt to locate the suspect. The footage showed a man wearing gray shoes, a dark blue shirt and shorts and a blue hat with a white logo.
Police have declined to release the suspect’s name, identifying him only as a 20-year-old Orange resident who told authorities that an acquaintance of his found the footage on social media and alerted him. He then turned himself into Santa Ana police, who in turn contacted Costa Mesa investigators, said Costa Mesa police Lt. Paul Beckman.
Costa Mesa police interviewed the suspect but have not arrested him. The incident is still under investigation, Beckman said.
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Hannah Fry, [email protected]
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
