Modesto man jailed in groping of seven girls in south part of city

Through an undercover operation, Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies on Thursday morning arrested a Modesto man on suspicion of sexual battery. Richard Garcia, 34, is accused of groping seven girls, ages 14 to 16, as they walked to school in south Modesto.

The investigation began Jan. 31 when deputies took a report from a 15-year-old girl who reported she’d been groped by a Latino man. The incident occurred between 6:40 and 7:20 a.m. while she was walking to a bus stop at Crows Landing Road and Butte Avenue. The man was on a bicycle when he grabbed her buttocks and then rode away.

The girl shared with deputies a description and a cellphone photo she took as he rode away. The suspect shielded his face from her as she took the photo.

Determining there were other victims, investigators created a crime bulletin with the photograph and shared it with other local law enforcement agencies. Patrol deputies and detectives in unmarked cars began to search for the man as probation officers also worked to identify him.

On Wednesday, detectives interviewed the initial victim, who provided names of other victims. The seven all were groped near Glenn Avenue and Dallas Street, and near Seattle Street and Butte Avenue.

On Thursday, detectives and deputies from the special team investigating narcotics and gangs set up an undercover operation using a female deputy as a student. About 7:20 a.m., as she was walking west on Butte Avenue, a bicyclist rode up next to her and grabbed her buttocks.

As he rode off, she grabbed him, said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Anthony Bejaran, and the two fell into a roadside puddle. STING deputies arrived and Garcia was arrested and booked into the county jail.

Detectives ask other victims to contact Detective Veronica Esquivez at 209-525-7050.

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Modesto man jailed in groping of seven girls in south part of city."