Rochester police arrest senior on suspicion of groping woman near Cook Park

(ABC 6 News) – Rochester police arrested a senior Monday on suspicion of groping a woman on a bike path near Cook Park.

According to RPD Capt. Casey Moilanen, a 36-year-old Rochester woman was on the path north of Cook Park, on the west side of the river, when she came across a man who reached out as if to shake her hand and said something in a language she didn’t recognize.

The woman told police she waved and continued walking, and when she got close enough, the man grabbed her arm, pulled her in, and groped her breast.

The woman told police she pulled away, yelled at the man, and turned around to walk back the way she came, while the man headed south on the bike path.

The woman called police, who located Mohamed Elwasila Ali, 78, via her description of the suspect.

Moilanen said the woman saw police speaking to Ali and positivily identified him as the man who had groped her.

Police are referring charges of 4th-degree criminal sexual conduct and disorderly conduct, Moilanen said.