A 73-year-old woman praying at a Mountain View church was the victim of an attempted sexual assault Wednesday, police said. The woman went to St. Athanasius Church, at 160 N. Rengstorff Ave., to pray around 6:20 p.m., and as she walked into the chapel she noticed a man sitting in the back, Mountain View police spokeswoman Liz Wylie said. The woman took a seat in the pews at the front of the chapel, Wylie said, and the man followed her. "The next thing she knew, the suspect sat down next to her and immediately started to try to kiss her," Wylie said. The woman turned away and he ended up "licking her cheek," Wylie said. She cried out and told the man in Spanish that she was married. When she tried to push him away, he stood up in front of her and put his hands on her waist, Wylie said. The woman then started yelling for help, and the man let her go and ran to another part of the chapel, Wylie said. The woman rushed to the church's rectory and rang the doorbell for help. An employee answered and went to the chapel to look for the man but the door was locked — the man had apparently barricaded himself inside.The employee went back to the rectory to get a key, but when she returned the chapel door was open and the man was gone, Wylie said. The man was described as possibly homeless, 45 to 50 years old and about 5 feet tall with a medium build. The woman said she had seen him at the church before but had never spoken to him. The woman is currently reluctant to pursue prosecution, Wylie said, but police intend to continue working with her and investigating the case. "She'd seen him in the church before so that gives us a lead right there," Wylie said.
