MIAMI – Police have released surveillance video from inside the J.C. Penney store at Dadeland Mall in hopes of finding the man responsible for sexually assaulting a teenager who was shopping with his mother May 4.
Detectives say a man in his 40s, wearing a white shirt and red pants approached the 14-year-old boy, unbuttoned his pants, and fondled his private parts.
The startled teenager ran to tell his mother, who was checking out at a register. During that time surveillance video shows the man hurrying out of the store.
Shoppers say they are shocked this kind of lewd act would happen at the mall.
"If somebody groped my son in the mall, I would say they would be absolutely out of their mind, because they wouldn't last long," said Al Cleveland.
"Nobody is safe anymore," said another shopper. "That's the scary part -- not at a school, not in a shopping mall, not in an airport, nowhere."
A representative for Dadeland Mall has said in the past they do not tolerate this type of behavior, but they are also thankful for the quick response by the Miami-Dade Police Department.
There have been no more incidents reported at Dadeland Mall since that incident May 4.
Contact Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at 305-471-TIPS with any information.