Have you seen him? Rutherford cops say man has been groping women

RUTHERFORD — Borough police have asked for the public's help in finding a man they say groped two women on local streets a day apart.

On Thursday just after 6 p.m., police said a 28-year-old woman was jogging on Carmita Avenue in the area of Donaldson and Woodward Avenues, when a vehicle headed in the same direction pulled alongside her and the driver leaned out the window and slapped her on the buttocks.

A day later, around 6:40 p.m., a 34-year-old woman was pushing her child in a stroller on Montross Avenue near Donaldson Avenue, when she saw a man sitting in a black pickup truck, according to police.

She passed the pickup and about half a block away and heard footsteps behind her, she told police.

A man asked her “are you single" and "what are you into" as she interrupted and said she "wasn’t into anything." As she continued to push the stroller, the man then reached between her legs from behind and squeezed her groin area before he ran south on Montross toward Donaldson, she told police.

Police describe the suspect as having a thin build, possibly in his 20s, about 5 feet 9 inches, with brown hair and a thin brown beard. In the second incident, as seen on surveillance photos shared with the public, he was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, black pants and a face mask.

A Nissan Frontier seen in the area of the second incident is considered a vehicle of interest. The black pick-up truck appears to be an early model, possibly without one or both license plates.

Anyone who sees a similar vehicle can contact police at 201-939-6000 Ext. 1