Update: On Tuesday, April 11, Palo Alto police arrested a man in connection with the reported sexual assault that occurred on Sunday, April 9. Read our latest story.
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A woman in her 50s was reportedly attacked and sexually assaulted on Sunday afternoon, April 9, while she was traveling through the California Avenue pedestrian underpass in Palo Alto, police said. Officers are still searching for the suspect.
Police received an emergency call at 2:49 p.m. from a passerby who had found the woman in the underpass shortly after the assault, according to a press release. The woman told police she was walking her bike east when a man struck her from behind, causing her to fall to the ground, before he sexually assaulted her.
During the incident, police said the man had stolen the woman's cellphone when she called out for help and that he later fled the area in an "unknown" direction. Officers found her cellphone shortly after in the 3000 block of Emerson Street. The woman suffered moderate injuries, including bruising on her neck and lacerations to the back of her head.
The woman was taken to a local hospital, where she received both treatment and a sexual assault forensic exam, police said.
The man is described as Asian, between the ages of 30 and 40 and 5 feet, 5 inches tall with a stocky build. He was cleanly shaven at the time of the attack, the woman told police, and was wearing a dark bike helmet, dark sunglass and a high-visibility yellow top.
Police are canvassing the area around the attack and on Sunday distributed flyers to households near the tunnel asking for surveillance footage that may have captured the suspect prior to or after the assault. On Monday, a police sketch artist met with the woman to produce a drawing of the suspect, which was released to the public.
Police are asking anyone with information to call 24-hour dispatch at 650-329-2413. Anonymous tips can be sent to paloalto@tipnow.org or via text and voicemail to 650-383-8984.
Comments
Registered user
College Terrace
on Apr 10, 2023 at 11:14 am
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 11:14 am
The city manager needs to implement cameras in the tunnel ASAP. Residents have been concerned sbout safety for years regarding this subterranean passage.. This woman was brutally attacked by a predator. This should never have happened. Binder, Stump and mayor Kou need to press upon city manger Shikada to get cameras in this tunnel before the week is out. Step up and get it done. Assign secuity to this area where contituents and others are vulnerable. The tunnel is dangerous.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Apr 10, 2023 at 11:35 am
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 11:35 am
There are still no cameras there?? How special that they've devoted so much resources to putting together a "Community Engagement" document for tonight's City Council while ignoring common sense requests/priorities like this.
Registered user
Midtown
on Apr 10, 2023 at 11:57 am
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 11:57 am
Was the assailant on a bike when he struck the woman? If he rode up on this poor woman from behind and hit her on the back of the head, there's almost now way would have known he was there until it was too late.
I'm not really sure how much cameras are going to help here; they would make identifying the assailant after the fact easier (maybe only a little), but they wouldn't have prevented it in the first place. Really horrible and hoping the woman can fully recover.
Registered user
another community
on Apr 10, 2023 at 12:10 pm
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 12:10 pm
According to the press release, the suspect was walking his bike westbound. Cameras won't stop sexual assault any more than bank cameras stopping robberies and store cameras stopping retail theft. They'll help identify the suspect after the fact. The only thing that will stop sexual assault would be nobody using the tunnel. The tunnel is dangerous.
Registered user
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Apr 10, 2023 at 12:22 pm
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 12:22 pm
I think cameras may deter some criminals.
I hope the tunnel can be made safer. I went though it once years ago /not convenient to me), but such routes SHOULD be safe and appropriate to use. Otherwise the city should close it.
The attack sounds dangerous and awful. I hope the woman will recover soon.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Apr 10, 2023 at 12:37 pm
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 12:37 pm
To all of you who think cameras are unless, in a public underground space, they can help identify the attacker and help police find him! Society is full of sick predators so we need to use everything in the toolbox to make people safe! Sure have a bridge over the underpass but get a camera ASAP!!
Registered user
Crescent Park
on Apr 10, 2023 at 3:42 pm
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 3:42 pm
@Jennifer - Cameras won't stop sexual assault [...] They'll help identify the suspect after the fact
Most crimes are committed by a small number of repeat offenders. Catch them once, put them away for good, and crimes will be stopped. We are relearning the lessons of the 90s the hard way.
Registered user
Barron Park
on Apr 10, 2023 at 5:35 pm
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 5:35 pm
Our DA's Office needs to get tougher on sexual assault crimes.
IMO they are too soft. Sometimes it gets ignored altogether. The rapists are paying attention.
Registered user
Greendell/Walnut Grove
on Apr 10, 2023 at 9:07 pm
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 9:07 pm
What is the guidance for children and women, who are more likely targets for sexual assault? Should they stop using the tunnel? 3pm on a Sunday is the middle of the day. This is unbelievable.
What kind of self defense could she have performed here?
Registered user
College Terrace
on Apr 10, 2023 at 10:38 pm
Registered user
on Apr 10, 2023 at 10:38 pm
Someone who does this in the middle of the day, when he could be caught, is extremely dangerous and must be found! I'm sure this was not the first time!
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Apr 11, 2023 at 1:16 am
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 1:16 am
Where are our police? Cameras will not help in this tunnel. Yet mirrors will empower citizens, residents and children traversing this blind tunnel to have some safe guards. Mirrors at each end and one in the dip in the center.
I wish the same for patients at Stanford Hospital in the sky. The Hospital has about 9 nurses at each ward station . Yet all nine that hour were very busy at serving the computer rather than the patient. 8 of them behind their wall of AI unintelligent healthcare. One of the nine, was actually standing out from the rest speaking to a relative of a pastiest. How strange is that image. Very.
And. My relative’s catheter was leaking onto the floor and bedding. The ward nurses were too busy at the AI to bother helping their human patient w his pee plug. Instead they said it was a shift change and once that occurred someone would be down to check on their patient... never happened. Just like the assailant will not be caught. A hospital can be stacked w nurses, a city w police and the reliance on alternative technologies — who are sworn it to actually save lives — defer and hand power of healing over to artificial unintelligence. Steak dinners are served to patience to help cloak a disgrace of patient centered health care. Yes.
Better to get low technology in Cal Ave tunnel like, mirrors. This way the city does not have any excuse to get off thier playground.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Apr 11, 2023 at 8:14 am
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 8:14 am
" . . . hospitalized for moderate injuries after attack." The article later mentions that the victim received treatment and a sexual assault forensic exam. Nothing about that sounds "moderate" to me.
ALB, above, is right. Palo Alto needs to get serious about crime prevention. In some ways we, as a society, need to turn back the clock a bit. Get beat cops, prosecute crimes, and make the consequences matter. And put at least some of those convicted to work doing things for society that badly need to be done - like cleaning up litter, scrubbing down graffiti, and building shelters for the homeless.
Registered user
Mountain View
on Apr 11, 2023 at 8:39 am
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 8:39 am
Installing cameras in that tunnel should be a no brainer for a city Council that just approved some all over town to prevent property theft.
A camera with good live analytics could have alerted Public Safety as the assault happened. And of course, the recording would help in catching the perp.
Registered user
Leland Manor/Garland Drive
on Apr 11, 2023 at 9:21 am
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 9:21 am
The pedestrian underpass at Homer and Alma is shorter and wider. In the past wasn’t a pedestrian underpass proposed at Seale? A new, wide and well lit pedestrian underpass should be seriously considered once again!
Registered user
Greenmeadow
on Apr 11, 2023 at 10:38 am
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 10:38 am
If the train tracks ever get lowered or raised, the many problems with pedestrian/bike/car crossings will end.
Registered user
Professorville
on Apr 11, 2023 at 1:28 pm
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 1:28 pm
1. I feel so sorry for the woman to whom this happened. This horrible experience will never leave her life anymore.
2. Quick suggestion to all women: please purchase a loud alarm system you can carry with you. Loud screeching may frighten the attacker, although there are some bold ones.
3. Yes, punishment for these acts should be stronger than what it is today.
4. However, when a couple of members on the Supreme Court can get away with these kinds of actions, what hope is there for us, women?
Registered user
Professorville
on Apr 11, 2023 at 1:56 pm
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 1:56 pm
[Post removed; successive comments by same poster are not permitted.]
Registered user
Downtown North
on Apr 11, 2023 at 2:20 pm
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 2:20 pm
I warned my teenage daughter about avoiding the tunnels that go under the tracks at Homer and University because of guys that hang out in them. During four years of bike riding to Paly, she went way out of her way to avoid the tunnels. I have lived in south Palo Alto and used that tunnel to bike to my job at Stanford. It has always been somewhat sketchy, but I tried to go at times when they were many people going through. This brazen attack during a Sunday afternoon is horrendous. Not sure cameras will help, and I’d like to hope that a bridge over the tracks would help, but I am sometimes not comfortable crossing the 101 overpasses. Maybe a loud whistle would help, but this guy acted so quickly and violently that pepper spray or whistle might not have helped because she couldn’t get to them in time. My heart goes out to this woman who just wanted to ride her bike through a tunnel.
Registered user
Greenmeadow
on Apr 11, 2023 at 2:23 pm
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 2:23 pm
[Post removed.]
Registered user
another community
on Apr 11, 2023 at 3:12 pm
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 3:12 pm
[Post removed due to deletion of referenced comment.]
Registered user
Greenmeadow
on Apr 11, 2023 at 5:06 pm
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 5:06 pm
[Post removed due to deletion of referenced comment.]
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Apr 11, 2023 at 5:16 pm
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 5:16 pm
This particular tunnel is used by many Paly students who consider it a safer option than crossing Churchill which can have 50 approx students crossing at each light.
There is a need for safe methods of crossing those tracks, safe in all senses of the word. A pedestrian/bike overpass would be a great improvement.
And then of course there is the disused tunnel under El Camino at Page Mill. I often wonder about the fact that it is still there and not used by say homeless or others.
Registered user
another community
on Apr 11, 2023 at 5:46 pm
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 5:46 pm
[Post removed due to deletion of referenced comment.]
Registered user
another community
on Apr 11, 2023 at 6:36 pm
Registered user
on Apr 11, 2023 at 6:36 pm
[Portion removed.] As for the tunnel, it needs bright lights, and mirrors as @Native mentioned, and those mirrors need to be behind cages so they can't be smashed. There are also mirrors that can have cameras behind them. Get some. Quit spending money on cameras and license place readers that only affluent residents will benefit from. "Safety for all" should be a mantra for City Hall and the police department.