Attempted attack reported on the Rodota Trail

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office is asking for your help in identifying a man suspected of attempting to sexually assault a female jogger on the Joe Rodota Trail Friday evening.

Officers responded to the trail around 8 p.m. after a woman reported that a man approached her from behind while she was jogging between Merced Avenue and Llano Road west of Santa Rosa.

The man reportedly grabbed the woman by the buttocks and forced her to the ground while “making announcements that he was going to sexually assault her,” the sheriff’s office said Saturday.

The woman told officers that she was able to fight off the attacker, who then ran off west toward Sebastopol.

The man is described as Hispanic, between 18 and 20 years old, with a slim build and long black hair. According to the sheriff’s office, he was wearing a purple sweatshirt, gray pants and black shoes at the time of the incident.

He is wanted for questioning on suspicion of attempted rape.

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information to contact the agency’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit at 707-565-8290. Anonymous tips can be submitted online through the sheriff’s office’s Silent Witness Hotline.

Reach staff writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.