Portland police arrest man suspected of throwing semen on women in grocery stores

PORTLAND -- Portland police detectives on Thursday arrested a 47-year-old Beaverton, Ore., man in connection with reports of a man throwing semen on unsuspecting women in grocery stores.

Police said detectives were conducting an investigative follow-up at the Safeway grocery store at 8145 Southwest Barbur Boulevard when they saw the suspect in a parked car. 

"In the parking lot, detectives noticed a person sitting in a parked car that matched the description of the suspect in several reported incidents of a man throwing semen on unsuspecting women in grocery stores," the police news release said. "Detectives and officers contacted the suspect and placed him into custody without incident."

In the hours after the arrest, detectives learned that the suspect was inside the Safeway store prior to being arrested and police said he likely committed another lewd act. That victim has not been identified.

On May 19, detectives released information to the public regarding several similar acts, as well as surveillance images from an April 5 incident.

After the release of this information, a woman contacted detectives to report that she had been a victim in a previously unreported incident on May 17 at the same Safeway location as the arrest and the April 5 incident.

The man was being booked into the Multnomah County Jail on two counts of third-degree sex abuse  in connection with incidents on April 5 and May 17 in Portland.

Q13 News typically does not name suspects until they have been formally charged with a crime.