A man riding an e-moto cycle allegedly groped two women along separate Naperville walking paths five days apart, prompting police and Naperville Crime Stoppers to offer a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Neither woman was injured, according to police, but both incidents are being investigated as batteries involving unwanted physical contact.
The first incident happened near Hillside Road and Washington Street close to William Friedrich Memorial Park on Tuesday, August 25, at approximately 7:45 p.m., according to NBC 5 Chicago. The 10-acre park sits at 720 S. Washington Street between Edward Hospital and Naperville Cemetery, according to the Naperville Park District. Police say the suspect approached the woman and touched her inappropriately before fleeing the scene.
A second, similar attack was reported five days later near Gartner Road and Edgewater Drive, close to Veterans Park at 303 E. Gartner Road, per NCTV17. Naperville police reported that this incident occurred Sunday at 7:30 p.m., placing the two attacks roughly 1.5 miles apart and both during evening twilight hours between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m., according to the same NBC 5 Chicago report.
Suspect Description and E-Moto Detail
In both cases, the suspect was described as a male between the ages of 17 and 22, wearing dark clothing and a large backpack. The station's report notes he was riding an e-moto cycle in both encounters, and Naperville Crime Stoppers has added that he may have been wearing Apple-style headphones while operating the vehicle, according to a bulletin from Positively Naperville.
The two incidents were formally filed under police report numbers #2026-00047010 and #2026-00047964, per the same bulletin. The investigation is being conducted jointly by the Naperville Police Department and the Naperville Park District Police Department, according to NCTV17, reflecting the shared municipal and park jurisdiction over the trail system where the attacks occurred.
An E-Moto That Was Already Banned From These Paths
Whatever the suspect was riding, operating a motorized e-moto cycle on Naperville's multi-use paths is already against the law. In December 2025, the Naperville City Council updated its municipal electric mobility ordinance to prohibit motor-driven cycles, dirt bikes, and e-motos from city-owned multi-use paths and sidewalks, with violations carrying fines up to $500, according to the City of Naperville.
Park district rules echo that restriction. Under Naperville Park District and DuPage County Forest Preserve District regulations reinforced during a May 2025 public safety campaign, only low-speed Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are allowed on multi-use trails, while Class 3 e-bikes and motorized cycles are banned entirely, per the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. Statewide, Illinois regulations also require low-speed electric bicycles to display a permanent label specifying their class, top assisted speed, and motor wattage up to 750 watts, a measure intended to help officers tell legal e-bikes apart from unregulated e-motos, according to a statement from the Plainfield Police Department shared on Facebook.
How to Submit a Tip
Anyone with information can call Naperville Crime Stoppers at 630-420-6006, and callers may remain anonymous. Tips can also be directed to Naperville police at 630-548-2955. Naperville Crime Stoppers, established in 1982, says it has helped solve thousands of cases over the decades, leading to hundreds of arrests and the recovery of nearly $18 million in cash, property, and illicit drugs, according to the City of Naperville.
This is not the first time this year that local authorities have turned to a cash incentive to crack an unsolved case. In April, Naperville Police and Crime Stoppers similarly authorized a $1,000 reward for tips after an unsolved shooting near a downtown parking garage, a case Hoodline covered in a downtown alley gunfire scare. It remains unknown whether municipal or residential doorbell cameras along Washington Street or Gartner Road captured the suspect entering or leaving the trail system, and investigators have not said whether they are examining possible links to other unreported micromobility disturbances elsewhere in DuPage County.
