PALO ALTO (KRON) — Police are searching for a man who sexually battered a woman near downtown Palo Alto Wednesday night.

Palo Alto Police received a call around 9:15 p.m. from a woman reporting she had been sexually battered in the 200 block of Alma Street.

The woman, in her twenties, had just disembarked from a bus at the Palo Alto Transit Station at 95 University Avenue and was walking northbound on the east side of Alma Street when she noticed a man walking about 15 feet behind her.

The woman was at the 200 block of Alma Street when the man ran up from behind her and groped her over her clothes.

The victim screamed causing the suspect to flee southbound on Alma Street. The victim followed the suspect eastbound on Everett Avenue and then southbound on High Street when she lost sight of him.

The victim called police immediately.

She was not physically injured in the incident.

The suspect is described as a “light-skinned” man in his thirties or forties. He stands about five feet eight inches tall with a medium build.

He was wearing a green jacket with dark loose-fitting pants and possibly a beanie.

If you have any information about this case, please contact the dispatch center at (650) 329-2413.

Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to 650-383-8984.