Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies have chased down, arrested and jailed a 20-year-old man suspected of being the sexual predator who, sometimes naked, exposed himself to female hikers on trails in the mountain foothills west of metro Denver.

The deputies caught Glenn Braden, an Evergreen resident, in the dark Tuesday night, sheriff officials said Wednesday morning, following incidents near the Beaver Brook Trail at Stapleton Park where he is suspected of exposing himself and chasing lone hiker victims.

A female hiker who encountered the suspect called 911 shortly before 6:15 p.m., saying she’d run away from a man wearing a gray T-shirt and green sweatpants who had approached her, exposed himself, and began masturbating, officials said in a news release.

A few minutes later, the suspect confronted another lone female hiker and exposed himself, officials said, adding that the suspect tried to grab one of the two victims.

Sheriff deputies and park rangers fanned out across the park and searched for 2.5 hours before locating a man hiding in the woods, officials said.

“There was a short foot chase. He didn’t fight us,” sheriff department spokeswoman Karlyn Tilley said.

The man taken into custody for further investigation has been booked into the Jefferson County jail on three counts of unlawful sexual contact and five counts of indecent exposure.

Sheriff officials believe Braden is responsible for multiple sexual encounters targeting lone female hikers that began around April 3 at the Flying J Ranch Park in Conifer, Tilley said.

Investigators referred to him as the alleged suspect in the incidents where a sexual predator struck on June 13 at the Alderfer Three Sisters Park and on July 11, July 18, and July 24 at the Flying J Ranch Park.

“We believe this is the same guy. There are some reports of him being completely naked,” she said.

“It is really important that we were able to identify him and find him. We’re excited that we have somebody in custody. We feel the public is safer right now.”

Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.