Police arrested a man on Wednesday after they say he went into a bathroom stall occupied by a 13-year-old girl at the Palm Springs Walmart.
Police were called to the store due to “lewd conduct” a little after 3 pm, reports The Desert Sun. A man had entered underneath the wall of the stall, pulled down his pants, and began to masturbate in front of the teenager, according to police.
The girl screamed and the suspect left the stall. Another person in the bathroom yelled for help and store employees and shoppers grabbed the suspect and detained him until police arrived.
Tyler Berthoud was arrested on charges of attempted lewd acts with a child under 14 and false imprisonment. He had been released from jail the previous day after time served for sexual battery in 2016 in Wildomar in which he tried to pick up two teenage girls at a McDonald’s, then followed a woman into her apartment complex and grabbed her buttocks, notes KESQ.
The victim was not injured, but police say she was very frightened.
“This has got to be a very, very scary thing, I don’t care if you’re 13 or you’re 40,” Palm Springs Sgt. William Hutchinson said in a news conference. “This is a very brazen, dangerous individual that we don’t want in this community.”
NEWS RELEASE: Arrest for Attempt Lewd Act with Child Under 14 years old:On 8-9-17 at approximately 3:05 p.m., the Palm Springs Police Department responded to reports of lewd conduct in progress at Walmart, located at 5601 E Ramon Rd.Officers arrived on scene and found that employees of the location had surrounded and detained a male who was seen leaving a bathroom stall in the women's restroom inside the business.During the investigation officers located a 13 year old female victim. The victim reported that she was in the restroom stall when a male’s head appeared looking at her from under the stall. The male then crawled into the stall with her and pulled his pants down and began masturbating in front of the victim.The victim began screaming for help and the suspect walked out of the stall. A witness inside the bathroom, who saw the suspect walk out, yelled for people to stop the suspect and he was eventually detained by several employees and people inside the store.The 13 year old victim was not physically injured in this incident.The suspect identified as Tyler Ray Berthoud, DOB 8/9/1992 of Oak Hills was located inside the store when officers arrived and was being detained. Based on information established during this investigation, Berthoud was arrested and booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on the following charges:664/288 PC – Attempt Lewd Acts with child under 14 years old – Felony236 PC – False Imprisonment – Misdemeanor
Posted by Palm Springs Police Department, CA on Thursday, August 10, 2017
