HOWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. (1010 WINS) — A Monmouth County man has been charged after police say he sexually rubbed a woman "purposely" inside a grocery store last week, police said.
Ehab E. Nassif, 59, is charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual contact for an incident that occurred on Feb. 13 at a Lidl supermarket in Howell.
Howell Township Police said a woman reported that while she shopped at the site on U.S. Route 9 South a day earlier, she had allegedly been followed around by Nassif, who was wearing a black mask, gloves, a blue baseball hat, a blue jacket and jeans.
According to an investigation, police determined that as the victim was shopping, "the suspect continued to get closer to her by pretending to look at items on the shelf near her. As the victim reached for an item on the shelf, the subject then purposely rubbed his groin on her buttocks."
The victim said she saw the suspect do the same thing to another shopper, but when she told store employees what had happened, the suspect fled without being identified.
Authorities said late last week that a concerned citizen contacted police and reported that a person she believed matched the description of the suspect was currently shopping at the HomeGoods store on U.S. Route 9 North.
The woman then reported that she had allegedly seen the same man walking down multiple aisles in the store, passing female customers, purposely reaching out his arm and hand so he would graze their buttocks.
An investigation then led authorities to identify Nassif as a suspect in the case, and he was arrested at his home without incident, "with multiple items of clothing matching the initial victim’s description of his appearance recovered from the scene."
"This was another example of the partnership between this community and police department resolving another incident," said Howell Police Chief Andrew A. Kudrick, Jr. "The collaboration of observant residents, alert officers, a driven detective, and the Howell Happenings social media platform resulted in this arrest."
Considering the possibility of additional victims, the department said it is asking anyone with any information regarding the defendant or his conduct to contact Howell Police Detective Saltzman at nsaltzman@howellpolice.org or 732-938-4575, Ext. 2658.
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