HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Concerns have arisen after two women reported incidents of groping on a well-known trail in The Heights on Monday morning, with another victim having experienced a similar situation weeks prior at Buffalo Bayou Park.
All three victims describe the assailant as a man on a bicycle wearing a red helmet. One victim characterized him as heavyset and white, with long brown hair.
Catherine Manterola shared her experience, stating she was walking her dog around 7:45 a.m. on the White Oak Bayou Trail near Granberry when the man approached her from behind and touched her inappropriately. “He came up right next to me, slowed down to an almost stop, reached down, grabbed me, and then kind of kept going, and not a fast pace,” she noted. Manterola emphasized, “It’s not okay.”
Another woman reported a similar encounter on the same trail near Stude Park, where the man purportedly lifted her off her feet during the incident before cycling away.
Andrea Mackie believes she encountered the same perpetrator weeks earlier. She recounted walking on the trail at Buffalo Bayou Park between Shepherd and Waugh on July 10 when the man approached her from behind and groped her. “He didn’t really stop to do the groping. It was like his aim was just that good that it had to happen multiple times,” Mackie stated, adding that the experience left her feeling profoundly shaken and cautious about returning to Buffalo Bayou.
While law enforcement has yet to confirm whether these incidents are related, the victims believe the same individual is responsible and that more victims may exist. Manterola stressed the importance of reporting such incidents, stating, “It’s important for people to report incidents so that the police have something that they can piece together.”
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