Creeper alert, aisle three!
A New Jersey man was busted for rubbing his groin against the backside of a woman at a supermarket, police said Wednesday.
Ehab E. Nassif, 59, was charged with fourth-degree criminal sexual contact after a fellow shopper said he followed her around a Lidl supermarket on US Route 9 South in Howell on Feb. 12.
An investigation revealed Nassif — who was wearing a black mask, gloves and a blue baseball hat at the time — pretended to look at products on a shelf near the woman as he approached her, Howell Township police said in a statement.
“As the victim reached for an item on the shelf, the subject then purposely rubbed his groin on her buttocks,” department officials said.
The victimized woman also reported seeing Nassif do the same thing to another shopper, but he fled the supermarket before he could be identified, police said.
A “concerned citizen” then spotted a report of the alleged molestation on social media and called cops late last week to report that a man matching the suspect’s description was at a HomeGoods on US Route 9 North.
“The person reported that she had observed the man walking down multiple aisles in the store to pass female customers, purposely reaching out his arm and hand so it would graze their buttocks,” police said.
Nassif, of Howell, was later identified as the suspect and was arrested at his home without incident. Cops said multiple articles of clothing matching the initial victim’s description were recovered from his residence.
The woman sexually touched at the supermarket said she saw Nassif also attack another shopper. Howell Township Police DepartmenPolice said they “strongly” believe Nassif victimized others as well. Anyone with additional information should contact Howell police at (732) 938-4575.
Several women wrote on Facebook that they recognized Nassif from previous encounters while shopping, including at an unspecified Dollar Tree location.
“He looks like the man I encountered in Walmart a couple of years ago but I wouldn’t be able to positively ID him,” one woman alleged. “I’m glad he’s caught.”
Another woman was much more definitive, saying she reported Nassif to Walmart security staff two years ago.
“He grazed my thigh when he followed me around the aisles,” the second woman claimed. “I was going [to] lay him out when I asked what his problem was he took off into the toy dept.”
A phone listing for Nassif in New Jersey was not available Wednesday. It’s unclear if he’s hired an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
