Graduate student accused of groping women at UCLA
A 24-year-old UCLA graduate student from China has been arrested on suspicion of groping several women at the university’s Westwood campus, authorities said Tuesday.
Pengcheng Bao, a doctoral candidate in chemistry and biochemistry, is accused of grabbing three female students on their upper thighs as he walked past them on the sidewalk, according to a statement issued by UCLA and a crime alert by university police.
The students had reported groping incidents allegedly involving Bao earlier this year, according to the university’s statement. One of the students snapped a photo of Bao with her phone, and the photo was included in a flyer distributed to the university community warning of the alleged battery.
Bao was arrested Saturday at Weyburn Terrace, the student housing complex where he lives, according to the statement. He was booked on seven counts of misdemeanor battery and one count of misdemeanor sexual battery.
He is being held on $140,000 bail in a downtown Los Angeles jail, according to jail records.
Anyone with information regarding similar incidents is asked to contact UCLA police at (310) 825-1491.
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