Man assaulting women on trails in Arlington, Euless, Haltom City, Hurst

Four North Texas cities are working together to track down a man assaulting women on running trails.

Hurst police first asked for help looking for a man after a woman was grabbed and groped while running last Wednesday on the Cotton Belt Trail. They are now working with investigators in Arlington, Euless and Haltom City as they look into six separate attacks.

Authorities said all of the women attacked were running at the time, but none of the women were injured. Police believe the assaults are sexually motivated.

Three of the incidents happened in the west district of Arlington. Two were on Perkins Drive and one on Morris Lane.

Police say it’s the same in each case: a woman is out jogging and a man comes up from behind and starts groping her chest and other private areas. Police say the women have all fought back and the man eventually runs away.

The incidents have happened at all times of day -- the earliest at 6:30 a.m. and the latest at 8 p.m. August 29 on the Cotton Belt Trail in Hurst.

“Number one: we want to warn the public that there is somebody in our North Texas community that obviously is doing this. It’s very egregious behavior and we want to get him identified and into custody as soon as possible,” said Chris Cook with Arlington PD. “We think he tactics are escalating. And we are putting it out to generate some leads for us,” Chris Cook, Arlington PD.

In the most recent incident on Sept. 2 in Haltom City, the groping rose to the level of sexual assault.

Police say the incidents happened so fast the women didn’t get a good look at the man so there’s not enough information to put together a composite sketch.

There’s no surveillance video to rely on so police are asking nearby homeowners to check their cameras on those dates.

Police are unsure if there are more victims, but say some victims were hesitant to report what happened to them. They’re encouraging anyone else who might’ve been a victim or anyone who has information to contact them.