Knife-wielding man in Palo Alto exposes himself, assaults children inside vehicle
PALO ALTO -- A man climbed into a parked vehicle and touched his exposed penis while holding a knife against a 7-year-old boy in Palo Alto early Friday, police said.
The child and an 11-month-old boy were left in their mother's vehicle in the 100 block of Hamilton Avenue while she briefly went into a nearby business where her boyfriend was working about 12:35 a.m., police said.
About 10 minutes later, she returned to find an unfamiliar man in the driver's seat, where he was touching himself and holding the knife against the older child, police said.
The woman ran inside to get help and when she returned with her boyfriend, they startled the man who fled on foot, according to police.
It was later determined that the man sexually battered the 7-year-old and struck the infant in the face after removing the child from a car seat, police said. The mother also discovered that her boyfriend's wallet containing cash was missing from the center console of the vehicle.
Joshua Keenan Brass, 30, of East Palo Alto was taken into custody about 4 a.m. near the intersection of Emerson Street and Lytton Avenue, police said. He was accused of committing a lewd act on a minor, assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment, assault with intent to commit a sex act and kidnapping with intent to commit a sex act, police said.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Palo Alto police at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent by text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.