Teen's Brother Finds Suspect 6 Months After Attack

CARMICHAEL (CBS13) - A local man is in jail tonight facing serious charges after he allegedly assaulted and groped a teenager while she was jogging.

The victim, who we're calling "Alex", doesn't want to show her face, but says the suspect's face is one she'll never forget.

"It was a Sunday afternoon in the middle of the day," said Alex. "It was just completely unexpected and terrifying."

An avid runner, Alex says she was on a jog near her home in Carmichael when a man on a bike pedaled past.

"He slapped me on the back and he just continued biking," she said.

Terrified and without a phone, Alex ran for home, but says the man reappeared, grabbed her and began groping her.

"At one point, he grabbed my arm and threw me down on the ground and he got on top of me and he put his fingers on his lips and he just said, 'Shhhhh,'" said Alex.

It was a brazen attack that ended abruptly when, Alex says, a car could be heard approaching on nearby Oak Avenue. The man jumped back on his bike and took off. After six months, deputies still had no luck finding the suspect.

"It was pure frustration and terror. I was scared, and then as things progressed, it was hopelessness," she said.

That is, until a call came in from her teen brother who was at the nearby Effie Yeah Nature Center. He saw a man he thought could be his sister's attacker. Alex came to the park and stood in shock.

"There's absolutely no doubt that this was the guy; I remembered the face," she said.

Alex laid eyes on 27-year-old Dylan Thiede rummaging through garbage bins and knew it was him.

"It was mind-blowing; I don't know if I was more happy or surprised," said Alex.

Alex called deputies who took Thiede into custody. Six months later, this teenager is able to breathe a little easier.

"There have been so many false alarms. My whole family has been looking out and this one day this one time we actually saw him," she said.