In late 2020, the Glendale Police Dept. began receiving reports regarding a shirtless male jogger who was spitting on random people outdoors, primarily for not wearing a facemask. Victims of his assaults ranged in age from 13 to 78 years old. In some incidents, the suspect taunted and used racial slurs towards the victims during the assault.

On Dec. 30 just after 4 p.m., detectives from the Glendale Police Dept. Assaults Bureau were in the city actively conducting follow-up investigation into this case when the Glendale Police Dept. received a call regarding a male jogger who had just spit in someone’s face. Detectives quickly responded to the area and located 38-year-old James Howard of Glendale who matched the description of the suspect and matched the description of the jogger responsible for the multiple assaults mentioned above. Howard admitted to committing the series of reported assaults along with other assaults that had not been reported. Howard was arrested and booked for battery, elder abuse and a hate crime allegation.

There are eight incidents currently connected to Howard but there could be more that are still unreported. The Glendale Police Dept. is asking that anyone who was assaulted by this man to call the detective bureau at (818) 548-3106.