Charges Filed Against Beaumont Man Following Groping Report In OC

BEAUMONT, CA — A 23-year-old Beaumont man was charged Thursday with groping a woman in Irvine — after the alleged assault was caught on surveillance video.

Brandon Dybdahl pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana to false imprisonment and sexual battery, both misdemeanors. He was ordered to return to court June 29 for a pretrial hearing in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

Dybdahl was arrested just before 8:20 a.m. Wednesday in Laguna Hills in connection with Saturday's attack, which occurred near Graduate and Scholarship, according to the Irvine Police Department. A white sedan that was also spotted in the surveillance video of the attack was found in his possession when he was arrested, police said.

Dybdahl is a transient and was "couch surfing" with family friends, who were trying to "help him out," but did not know about the alleged attack, Sgt. Karie Davies said.

Surveillance video released earlier this week by police showed a man wearing a T-shirt and shorts exit a white vehicle and approach a woman from behind as she is crossing a street. The suspect grabs the woman from behind and briefly struggles with her before running off and getting into the car, which police described as a 2006-12 white Nissan Sentra.

Dybdahl also has a warrant for a hit-and-run collision, Davies said.