Crime & Safety
Man Accused of Sexual Assault in Sonoma Safeway Parking Lot
Authorities are investigating any potential link to a series of peeping tom cases in Sonoma in the past few months.
A 36-year-old El Verano man was arrested for alleged sexual battery on Tuesday night after a woman reported being groped in the Sonoma Safeway parking lot.
The incident was reported at 5:28 p.m., according to a news release from Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.
The victim was able to take a picture of the suspect's vehicle and license plate with her cell phone. She then gave the information to deputies, who apprehended the suspect in Sonoma about six minutes later, according to the news release.
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The suspect, Samuel Lyons, was also being sought for an outstanding warrant for sexual battery in a case from May 2012, in which he was accused of grabbing a woman's breast at a medical facility on Andrieux Street.
Lyons also has been identified as the alleged suspect in the sexual battery of a teenage girl on Monday as she walked home from the Sonoma CVS store, the Sheriff's Department stated.
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Sheriff's detectives are investigating any possible connections Lyons may have to other sexual assaults and in the Sonoma area over the past several months.
If you have information about any of these cases, please contact detectives at the Sonoma County Sheriff's Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Unit 707-565-8290.
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