Howard County police are investigating three reports of women touched inappropriately while walking or jogging this month in Columbia, Md.
On Saturday a man talking on a cell phone inappropriately touched a woman walking near Oakland Mills Road and Dobbin Road, police said. He ran from the scene.
Police received two similar reports earlier in the month.
On Aug. 9, a woman was jogging on a footpath near Majors Lane when a man ran past her and touched her inappropriately, police said.
Two days earlier on a footpath near Old Montgomery Road, a man ran up behind a jogging woman, touched her inappropriately and fled.
In each incident, the man was described as black, in his 20s or 30s, with short hair, clean shaven, medium build, and standing about 5-feet-10-inches tall and 170 pounds. He has worn a dark T-shirt and shorts that appeared to be running clothes, and a white polo-style shirt with trim.
Police increased bike patrols on pathways and are reaching out for possible victims of similar crimes that may not have been reported.
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In a similar but unrelated incident Aug. 15, a teenager grabbed a woman’s arm as she ran on the Patuxent Branch Trail near Iron Bridge Road in Jessup. He was described as a white boy about 16 years old with blonde hair and wearing a gray T-shirt, khaki shorts and gray Nike shoes.
