Police Patrolling Trail In Popular Vacaville Park After Woman Robbed

VACAVILLE(CBS13) - A woman was robbed along a popular trail and police are sending out extra patrols and plan to through the summer.

Officers on bikes, motorcycles, and flying drones were all on the lookout Thursday afternoon for a robbery suspect accused of targeting a jogger in Vacaville's Lagoon Valley Park.

"Telling her not to scream and if she did he would kill her," said Lt. Mark Donaldson, with Vacaville Police.

The woman was jogging last week on a rural hillside path in the normally peaceful park when the suspect struck.

"In the past 25 years of research, we've never had a robbery out here," he said.

Park goers said they're concerned about the unusual crime.

"It scares me because sometimes I'll be out here with just one girlfriend and it could happen," said Daisy Pelyao, Vacaville resident.

"There's obviously plenty of spots to hide up here," said Tracy Park who uses the trail often for hiking.

Investigators aren't sure if the man targeted the victim.

"It could've been a crime of opportunity based on the rural trail she was at the time," Lt. Donaldson said.

That's why these officers are going to continue randomly checking the rural areas of the park with these tools to make sure he doesn't return and to keep the rest of park goers safe.

"They're an incredible assets. They go a lot of places that the traditional police car cannot go," Donaldson said.

Another person saw a suspicious man parked in a white panel van near the lagoon about a half hour before the holdup.

Now some may reconsider hiking alone.

"I'm not sure if they're going to come up here, but definitely no by themselves," Park said.

Something police encourage.

"Coming out in pairs, sticking to more populated areas," Donaldson said.

A recreational robbery now forcing police to patrol paths less taken.

Police say the suspect is described as a tall African male with dread.

Currently, investigators are searching through surveillance video for that white van.

If you have any information call police.