Police Arrest Man Suspected Of Committing Sex Crimes In Yucaipa

YUCAIPA (CBSLA) — Police have arrested a man they said is accused of committing sex crimes in Yucaipa.

On Monday, police released security video of a man in a yellow safety vest talking to a woman on her porch. Police said they did not share the part of the video that shows a man groping the woman after he gave his sales pitch.

On Tuesday, police said they received numerous calls from residents of a mobile park home stating that the man from the video was knocking on doors once again.

"Our victim has positively identified him as the suspect in our battery case," Jenny Smith, spokesperson for the Yucaipa Police Department, said.

Police have not yet released the name of the man arrested.

"He walked into my house," Gloria Martinez, a witness, said. "Yeah, because I always leave the door open."

Martinez said once the man walked inside, he started asking for her information, selling fire extinguishers and security systems, and he ran a credit check. Martinez said the entire time, he was touching himself. She felt like the only reason he didn't try to touch her was because her friend Jenn Lunde was there.

"I would have clobbered him," Lunde said.

Police said they followed up on every tip they received, with one tip leading to the brief detention of a legitimate salesman who just so happened to be working at a mobile park nearby wearing a similar vest.

"I got mistaken for I guess somebody else," that man said. "I was just trying to do my job."

But as police were clearing him, another group officers caught the man they're now calling the suspect at a pizza place and arrested him.

Police still do not know if the man they arrested was legitimately working for a company or if he was posing as a worker to get closer to the women.

The investigation is ongoing.