Santa Ana Target Groping Suspect Stalked Mom Pushing Daughter in Cart, Police Say

A mother pushing her daughter in a shopping cart was groped inside a Santa Ana Target on July 22, and police say the man responsible is still on the loose. Special Crimes detectives with the Santa Ana Police Department are now asking the public for help identifying him, describing a chilling sequence in which the suspect allegedly stared at the woman before touching her and himself.

According to the Santa Ana Police Department, the victim was shopping at the Target located at 1330 E. 17th Street when an unidentified man stared at her, then grabbed her buttocks and his own groin over his shorts. The woman was pushing her daughter in a shopping cart at the time, according to the department. Detectives have released a physical description: a Black male with black hair and a black goatee, about 6 feet 1 inch tall and roughly 200 pounds, last seen wearing a black shirt with a car logo and black shorts.

How to Report a Tip

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective K. Van Luven, who works with the Santa Ana Police Department, at (714) 245-8346 or [email protected]. The appeal for help was shared under the department's #WantedWednesday and #SantaAnaPD tags, part of a recurring public-assistance push the department uses to circulate cases involving unidentified suspects. Community members who prefer to remain anonymous can also submit tips online at occrimestoppers.org or by calling 1-855-TIP-OCCS (1-855-847-6227) through Orange County Crime Stoppers, which offers cash rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.

What the Law Says About the Alleged Conduct

Under California Penal Code Section 243.4, touching a victim's buttocks over clothing without consent constitutes misdemeanor sexual battery, according to the Shouse Law Group. The offense carries penalties of up to six months in county jail, fines up to $2,000, and the possibility of mandatory sex offender registration. California law defines an intimate part broadly enough to include the buttocks, and the Kraut Law Group notes that actionable sexual touching can occur either against bare skin or through clothing, which is why the alleged grab described by investigators would fall under the statute even though the victim was clothed.

A Specialized Unit With a Recent Track Record

The case has been assigned to the department's Special Crimes Unit, which Behind the Badge describes as a team of 15 police personnel, two social workers, and one domestic violence advocate handling adult sexual assault, child abuse, elder abuse, and internet crimes against children. That unit sits within the Criminal Investigations Division, which the City of Santa Ana says is commanded by Commander Ponce de Leon and also oversees Robbery/Assaults, Property Crimes, Forensics, and the Santa Ana Family Justice Center.

The unit has recent success finding suspects in similar retail settings. In January, Santa Ana police arrested a 26-year-old man after a 44-year-old woman reported being sexually assaulted inside a retail business at MainPlace Mall, with detectives making that arrest less than two weeks after the report came in. It is unresolved whether investigators have recovered surveillance footage from the East 17th Street Target showing the suspect's license plate or the direction he fled.

Part of a Pattern Along the 17th Street Corridor

This is not the first public safety incident tied to a Target along Santa Ana's 17th Street corridor. In July 2024, police sought a man who attacked a security guard with a skateboard after being asked to leave a different Target location on West 17th Street, as Hoodline reported at the time. Santa Ana has two Target stores on the same street.

The city has also seen prior public groping cases with disturbing echoes of this one. In June 2024, police arrested a registered sex offender after he groped a 15-year-old girl and sexually assaulted a mother in front of her children in two separate daylight attacks within an hour, a case that led the Orange County District Attorney's Office to pursue felony charges carrying up to 20 years in prison. Citywide, reported sexual assault cases have fluctuated in recent years — Santa Ana recorded 16 such cases in January 2024, a 64% drop from the 44 reported in the same month of 2023, though the department has cautioned that its 2022 shift to the California Incident-Based Reporting System affects how those numbers compare year to year.

For now, the suspect in the Target incident remains unidentified, and detectives are relying on the public to come forward with any information that could lead to his arrest.