Palo Alto Track Watch Security Guard Accused Of Lewd Act
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) – A 35-year-old train track security guard who allegedly exhibited lewd behavior while in a parked car last month in Palo Alto was arrested on Monday, police said.
Luke Ryan Sauer, a San Carlos resident, was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct while taking a break from his job as a Track Watch security guard, according to police.
The city's Track Watch program began in 2009 and contracts for security guards to keep an eye on the Caltrain tracks in response to the number of teen suicides along the rails.
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An officer saw a man, later identified as Sauer, slumped in a car parked in the 4000 block of Park Boulevard around 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 21, police said.
A welfare check was conducted on the man, who was a Track Watch security guard in uniform in his private car on his cellphone during a break from work, police said.
Based on an investigation, the officer suspected the man was masturbating, but he didn't witness a lewd act, according to police.
The officer sent a report to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, police said.
Sauer's employer, Cypress Security, suspended him after police told them of the incident the next day and prevented him from working another shift under the company's Track Watch contract, according to police.
Last Wednesday, the district attorney's office filed a misdemeanor count of lewd conduct against Sauer and officers obtained an arrest warrant for him, police said.
Sauer was arrested on James Avenue in Redwood City around 6:20 p.m. Monday and was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail, according to police.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call police at (650) 329-2413. Those who wish to remain anonymous may send an email to paloalto@tipnow.org or send a text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.
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