UPDATE: Search ongoing for Riverside sex assault suspect

UPDATED: Tuesday, Feb. 19, 10 a.m., With additional details.

RIVERSIDE — Detectives are continuing to search for a sexual predator and have asked for the public’s help in identifying a man they allege sexually assaulted a woman at a Riverside park Thursday morning, Feb. 14. The reported incident happened near the dead-end of the 5000 block of Tequesquite Ave. along the park’s north side, not far from Tequesquite Community Garden.

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Officers were first alerted to the incident around 9 a.m., after City of Riverside’s Public Safety Communications Center received of a call of a sexual assault that had just occurred.

Responding officers quickly found a woman who told officials she was sitting in her vehicle when a man approached her and committed the sexual assault. He then fled on foot toward the Santa Ana River bottom area, according to Riverside PD officials.

With assistance from a Riverside Sheriff’s K-9 bloodhound, officers conducted an extensive search for the suspect, but he was not located at the time.

Based on the circumstances, detectives assigned to the department’s Sexual Assault – Child Abuse Unit responded to the park and assume the investigation.

A sketch artist was later called in to help create a rendering of the alleged suspect, who was described as either a Caucasian or light-skinned, Hispanic male adult in his 30’s, approximately 5-foot-10, and about 170 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark “hoodie” type sweatshirt and dark pants as he fled toward the nearby river bottom.

Riverside PD’s investigation is ongoing and no other details have been made available at this time.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation or who believes they know the identity and/or whereabouts of the alleged suspect is urged to contact SACA Detective Everth Bercian at (951) 353-7950 or by email. Those wishing to remain anonymous can email rpdtips or utilize the Riverside Police Department’s mobile app “Submit a Tip” feature while referencing incident number 190005077.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.