Man Arrested After Harassing Girl In Palo Alto Parking Lot

PALO ALTO - A man who seemed intent on bothering people was arrested last Sunday after bothering a group of Girl Scouts, then harassing a teenage girl in a city parking lot.

Police arrested 50-year-old Kenneth Nelson Porter, an Oakland resident, after the dispatch center received a call about 2:00 p.m. reporting that a man was harassing a 17-year-old woman in City parking lot “C-7” at 350 Sherman Avenue.

The suspect had approached the victim in the parking lot and made a number of inappropriate comments to her, police say, including asking if she had a boyfriend.

Officers responded and detained Porter without incident.

Police say they recognized Porter from prior contact that afternoon in the 300 block of California Avenue, when he approached a group of 8-year-old Girl Scouts selling cookies and made a parent feel uncomfortable by leaning down to within two feet of one girl’s face and mumbling to her.

The parent intervened and called police. They contacted the suspect and told him to leave the Girl Scouts alone, as no crime had occurred during that incident.

Porter was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail for one count of misdemeanor annoying children.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413.

Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.orgor sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously through our free mobile app, downloadable at bit.ly/PAPD-AppStore or bit.ly/PAPD-GooglePlay.

-image via Palo Alto PD