A transient has been arrested on suspicion of groping a 16-year-old girl on the same bus three times in a month, and investigators are asking other possible victims to come forward.
The alleged victim said the attacks happened on a Metro bus she regularly takes in the Van Nuys area. She said the suspect would board the bus, sit next to or stand behind her, then proceed to grope her.
The alleged attacks happened between late August and late September.
The first couple times, the teen said she was on her cellphone and didn’t notice until it was too late. The third time, she escaped as he was reaching out his hand.
And she snapped a photo of him.
“The victim did an outstanding job. She helped catch the suspect,” said Sgt. Al Garcia, with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau.
“Had she not taken the picture of the suspect, it would have been a little more difficult to identify him.”
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LAPD bicycle officers used that photo to track down and arrest Majeddin Navi, 59, a transient in the Canoga Park area.
Navi is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has been booked for sexual battery among other counts.
Anyone with information about other attacks is urged to call the sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau at 877-710-LASD, or email specialvictims@lasd.org
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