A sexual assault in broad daylight has the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Dept. investigating potential leads and asking the residents of Santa Barbara County for assistance.

A woman riding her bicycle near Orchard Supply Hardware in the Fairview Shopping Center on Tuesday between 11 a.m. and noon alleges she was sexually assaulted by an unidentified assailant. The woman told Sheriff’s deputies that a dark-complexioned Hispanic man threw a stick through the spokes of her rear bicycle tire, causing her to fall to the ground. The man then sexually assaulted her in the parking lot.

During the assault, she said another unidentified man drove up in a white sedan, possibly a Lincoln Towncar. The woman said the driver saw the sexual assault in progress and honked his car horn. The woman’s assailant then fled the scene.

When the driver asked the woman if he should contact the police, the woman responded that she was okay and only wanted to go home.

The woman described her assailant as being between 5’6″ and 5’8″ and weighing about 190 pounds. He had short, slicked-back hair of an undetermined color and was wearing a white thermal shirt, a white T-shirt, white tennis shoes and dark blue slacks. She described the driver as an older, balding white male in his early 60s.

Sheriff’s Dept. spokesman Chris Pappas is asking anyone with any information regarding this incident to call the Sheriff’s Dept. at 681-4100 or the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (877) 800-9100.