Multiple women say man on bike groped them on popular Houston park trails

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Two women say they were groped on a popular trail in The Heights Monday morning, and a third said she was groped weeks earlier at Buffalo Bayou Park.

All three women say the man who groped them was riding a bicycle and wearing a red helmet. One described him as white and heavyset with long brown hair.

Catherine Manterola said she was walking her dog around 7:45 a.m. on the White Oak Bayou Trail near Granberry when the man came up behind her and touched her inappropriately.

"He came up right next to me, slowed down to an almost stop, reached down, grabbed me, and then kind of kept going, and not a fast pace," Manterola said.

"It's not okay," she added.

Another woman told Eyewitness News a man matching the same description groped her on the same trail near Stude Park around the same time.

She said he briefly managed to lift her off her feet during the encounter before cycling away.

Andrea Mackie believes she was groped by the same man weeks earlier.

Mackie said she was walking on the trail at Buffalo Bayou Park between Shepherd and Waugh on July 10 when the man came up behind her on his bike and grabbed her.

"He didn't really stop to do the groping. It was like his aim was just that good that it had to happen multiple times," Mackie said.

Mackie said the episode left her so shaken, she now avoids going to Buffalo Bayou altogether.

"I felt so defenseless," she said.

Police haven't yet said if all three cases are connected, but the victims believe it's the same man and that there are likely other victims out there.

"It's important for people to report incidents so that the police have something that they can piece together," Manterola said.

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