Someone is preying on children shopping in Wal-Marts in San Diego County.
San Diego police are looking for a man wanted in two incidents where children, both girls aged 5 and 6, were touched inappropriately while standing by themselves. One of the girls was in the store's toy department.
The first case happened on April 1 at 6 p.m. at the Wal-Mart in College Grove. Then on May 17, a man put his hands down a girl's pants inside the Wal-Mart supercenter on Shawline Road around 2:20 p.m.
In both incidents, the suspect was very brazen, walking up to the children with people nearby and touching them very quickly, under 10 seconds according to Lt. Rick O'Hanlon with San Diego police.
Both victims were separated from their parents, who were a short distance away inside the store when the suspect approached them, O'Hanlon said.
In both cases, the child told her parents immediately who then in turn told store security. Neither victim needed medical attention.
The suspect, described as 6'0" with brown hair wearing a short-sleeved black or navy T-shirt and jeans, appeared to be in his 20s or 30s according to witnesses.
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In the second case, the suspect was seen getting into a 1998 to 2006, full-size, similar to a Ford, four-door “crew cab” style truck. The truck is dark in color, possibly burgundy, and has a silver or chrome colored storage box in the bed.
Wal-Mart helped investigators find store security video showing the suspect and a truck matching that description. The still photos are from the first incident, the video clip is from the second incident.
Investigators say they are examining the video but have made no arrests. Anyone with information concerning the suspect’s identity or similar cases is asked to contact the San Diego Police Department’s Child Abuse Unit at (619) 531-2260 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
