A Los Angeles real estate agent was attacked in broad daylight by a man who looked directly into — and smiled for — a security camera moments earlier.
Police are searching for the suspect, thought to be in his 40s, videotaped in the incident that happened in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Encino about 3 p.m. Sunday, NBC Los Angeles reported.
After seeing the video, two other real estate agents on Tuesday said that they believed they had been groped by the same man at other open house events, the station reported.
The agent had seen this man at a previous open house and told authorities she didn't trust him, believing he was trying to lure her into a room.
A surveillance camera outside the front door showed that she stepped outside and said, "You saw the house. You're done. That's it," according to NBC Los Angeles. That's when he took his cap off and smiled into the camera.
Then they shook hands before he forcefully shoved her, which sent her flying into vegetation just outside the camera's view. The agent began screaming for help before she hit the ground.
The man leaned over the agent and put his hands on her chest, before beating a hasty retreat amid her screams, according to the woman.
"I'm not really sure what I did," she told the NBC station. "All I remember was screaming so loud for help."
When they were on the porch, the man twice looked up and made eye contact with a security camera. He even took off his trucker-style baseball cap and smiled directly into the lens.
"You would imagine that in daylight that something like this wouldn't happen ... especially when there's a camera videoing the whole thing," said broker Bob Siegmeth, whose Keller-Williams Realty team works with the agent who was attacked.
The woman, who suffered cuts and bruises to her knee and is experiencing a backache, was shaken by the experience.
"I couldn't sleep," the tearful woman said. "I keep watching the video and crying."
