Jason L. Topper ? a local man convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the early 1990s ? was arrested Friday and is accused of groping a woman who was out on an early-morning walk in Winfield.
The incident happened around 2 a.m in the area of 16th and Millington. A 35-year-old woman reported that a man approached her as she stood under a street light picking up batteries that had fallen out of her portable music player.
The man is said to have exposed himself to the woman and groped her breast before fleeing the scene. Her search for the batteries had distracted the woman and she didn’t see the suspect get out of his vehicle to approach her.
"There was some bruising that resulted," chief Danny Parker said. "She was roughed up pretty good."
An officer in the area was aware the woman was out for a walk and had been keeping an eye on her from time to time.
"Then he stopped to talk to someone else and came back and she was needing help," he said.
The woman’s description of a white Ford dually pickup sounded familiar to the officer, who had seen a similar vehicle in the area prior to the attack. She indicated the vehicle had followed her for awhile as she walked.
Around 11 a.m. the same day, the investigation led to the arrest of Topper, 38. He faces charges of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious behavior.
Topper was released on a $1,750 bond the same day he was arrested, according to a jail spokesperson.
Parker confirmed that Topper was convicted of a conspiracy charge in connection with a 1993 murder in Cowley County. He spent more than eight years in prison on convictions related to that crime.
He was paroled to Sedgwick County in 2002 and discharged from parole in 2005.
Topper was convicted of having aided the person responsible for committing the 1993 murder.
