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A 21-year-old man was charged Friday with groping four women along Santiago Creek Trail in Orange.
Saul Montiel-Tejada was charged with one count of kidnapping to commit a sex offense, two counts of assault with the intent to commit a sex assault and two counts of sexual battery by restraint, all felonies, along with two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery.
The defendant, who is being held on $1 million bail, pleaded not guilty and was ordered to return to court for a pretrial hearing Aug. 24 in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
Montiel-Tejada allegedly grabbed a woman's buttocks while she was walking in the 4700 block of East Walnut Avenue about 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. The alleged victim called police and he was arrested nearby, prosecutors said.
He is also accused of grabbing a woman from behind on Sunday on North Tustin Avenue near Cambridge Street. That woman managed to wriggle free and the assailant fled on a bicycle, prosecutors said.
The defendant also allegedly groped a woman's buttocks about 6:35 p.m. Aug. 2 in Grijalva Park, prosecutors said.
Montiel-Tejada is also accused of grabbing a woman from behind on July 25 about 4:10 p.m. and dragging her into an alcove on Santiago Creek Trail near Tustin Street and La Veta Avenue before she managed to get free, prompting him to flee, prosecutors alleged.
