A retired law enforcement officer pinned down a 30-year-old Oroville man outside a Raley's grocery store Tuesday morning after witnesses say he tried to grope two teenage girls walking into the store. By the time Oroville police officers arrived at the Myers Street location around 8:48 a.m., the suspect was already restrained and waiting for them.
Police identified the man as Branden Edward Evans, according to department records relayed through the local emergency log BCFAC News. Officers responding to the report of a sexual battery at Raley's, located at 2325 Myers Street, found Evans already detained by the retired officer, as first reported by Action News Now. That intervention appears to fall under California Penal Code Section 837, which allows private citizens — including off-duty or retired officers — to make an arrest for a public offense committed in their presence, as detailed by the Shouse Law Group.
According to the police account relayed by the same outlet, Evans admitted to officers that he had groped two additional, still-unidentified women earlier that day at the Walmart Supercenter on Cal Oak Road, and that he had walked into Raley's specifically intending to grope more women. Officers at the scene identified one victim as a 40-year-old woman, while witnesses reported that Evans had also attempted to grope two teenage girls as they entered the store.
Booking and the Search for More Victims
Evans was arrested and booked into the Butte County Jail on one count of sexual battery. The jail, located at 5 Gillick Way in Oroville, is operated by the Butte County Sheriff's Office and serves as the primary adult detention facility for arresting agencies across the county.
Oroville police say they believe there may be additional victims or witnesses connected to the incidents at Raley's or Walmart who have not yet spoken with investigators, and they are asking the two unidentified women from the Walmart encounter, along with any other witnesses, to come forward. The department is asking anyone with information tied to case number 26-2886 to call (530) 538-2444 or stop by the police department in person at 2055 Lincoln Street.
What Charges Evans Could Face
Whether Evans ultimately faces a misdemeanor or a felony will depend on how Butte County prosecutors evaluate the evidence. Misdemeanor sexual battery under California Penal Code Section 243.4(e)(1) carries up to six months in county jail and a $2,000 fine, while felony sexual battery under Section 243.4(a) — which applies when a victim is found to have been unlawfully restrained — can bring two to four years in state prison, according to Wallin & Klarich. A conviction under either section would also require Evans to register as a sex offender under California Penal Code Section 290, with annual updates filed with local law enforcement.
Investigation reports from Oroville police are submitted for review to the Butte County District Attorney's Office, led by District Attorney Mike Ramsey, which will determine what formal charges, if any, are ultimately filed. Whether investigators locate the two unidentified Walmart victims or additional witnesses could factor into whether Evans faces multiple counts when the case moves toward arraignment.
A Community Already on Edge
Oroville, the county seat of Butte County, has a violent crime rate of roughly 980 incidents per 100,000 residents as of 2024, well above the statewide rate of 481 per 100,000 reported by the Public Policy Institute of California. The arrest comes weeks after Hoodline reported on another violent arrest in Oroville, underscoring a string of serious criminal cases moving through the small Butte County city this year.
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