Palo Alto police are looking for a man who exposed himself to a woman while she was sitting in a parked car near California Avenue Tuesday night, Jan. 8.

A woman in her 20s was seated in her car after recently parking in the city lot at 324 Sherman Ave. at about 11:14 p.m., police stated in a press release. The woman was parked on the side closest to Birch Street sending a text message and "within a minute, she looked up and noticed the suspect standing at the front passenger side corner of her vehicle," police stated. The woman saw that the man's pants were down and he was masturbating while looking at her, according to police.

The woman immediately drove away and dialed 911. Responding officers were unable to locate the man. The victim described him as a white male in his early 20s, approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a thin build, short brown hair and clean shaven. He was wearing blue jeans and a light-colored short-sleeved T-shirt, police said.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413, email an anonymous tip to paloalto@tipnow.org or send a text or voice mail message to 650-383-8984.

— Tyler Hanley

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