Coral Gables Police: Man follows woman home, assaults her, exposes himself
CORAL GABLES - Coral Gables police are asking for the public's help finding a man they say stalked a 25-year-old woman and followed her to her home, assaulted her and exposed himself.
"This was a home invasion," said Coral Gables Police Ed Hudak.
Police say surveillance tape shows the suspect who they say was wearing a baseball cap and a face mask and they describe him as a Hispanic male who is about 6 feet tall.
They say the tape shows him entering an elevator at the Lifetime Building at 215 South Dixie Highway that the victim is in at 6 p.m. on May 19th.
Major Raul Pedroso told CBS News Miami's Peter D'Oench, "The man gets in to the elevator behind her and when she gets out of the elevator she turns in the opposite direction quickly and doubles back. The individual follows her to her apartment. When the woman sees him, he confronts her and pushes her to the ground and exposes himself."
Pedroso said the suspect took off.
Police say it's a reminder of how vigilant everyone must be at their apartment buildings, condominiums and homes.
Pedroso said there is no evidence the suspect has done this before but said this may not have been the first time he has done this.
Hudak said, "This was not some random case. This was a targeted stalking and attack. The actions the victim took thwarted other dire consequences for her."
"This may be happening too much and becoming too common in our society."
He warned people not to be "too lax" at their high-rise buildings and urged "everyone to look out for each other."
Hudak said, "We are going to find this person" and said his detectives were following up on a lot of leads.
Hudak said if the suspect is arrested, at the very least he would face a charge of burglary with a battery. And there is no bond for that.
Police do not know why the victim was targeted.
They urge anyone who recognizes the suspect to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
