Man Suspected Of Masturbating At Palo Alto Safeway Arrested

PALO ALTO, CA — A man who was suspected of masturbating behind a woman at a Safeway in Palo Alto in January was arrested Wednesday, according to the Palo Alto Police Department.

Christian Alpha Roberts, a 27-year-old Oakland resident, was charged with several misdemeanors including sexual battery, battery and indecent exposure after he was connected to several other similar incidents around the Bay Area.

Roberts was arrested by the Napa County Sheriff’s Office on suspicion of a similar crime at a Walmart in American Canyon. He was also served arrest warrants for incidents in Palo Alto and Santa Clara.

The Palo Alto incident happened on the morning of January 26 at the Safeway on Middlefield Road. Roberts was suspected of masturbating while standing very close to a woman at the self-checkout line, according to police.

The victim, a woman in her 20s, told police that she found “biological fluid on the back of her shirt and pants.”

A second woman contacted police after the police department published a news release claiming that the same man had also followed her around the Safeway on the same day.