UPDATE: Police have released a preliminary report on Monday morning’s attack in which a woman reported being held by a man with a knife as he sexually assaulted her in the park just after 4 AM.
According to the report, the victim said the suspect pretended to have been stabbed and attacked her after she heard his cries for help and came to assist.
The victim told police she was able to escape when a dog being walked by two men ran to the area of the assault. The victim said the men happened upon the scene as they came to retrieve their dog and apologize. Police say the victim exited the park with the men before making her way to the East Precinct two blocks away at 12th and Pine where she reported the crime.
Woman Attacked at Cal Anderson Park Early This Morning
Written by Detective Mark Jamieson on
A woman walked into the East Precinct early this morning to report an attempted sexual assault/lewd act that happened shortly after 4:00 this morning in Cal Anderson Park.
The woman stated that she was walking through the park at that hour when she heard a man yelling for assistance. The woman told officers the man was stating he had been stabbed, so she went over to help. When she reached him, he stood up and produced a knife. According to the victim, the man then put the knife in his pocket and put his arm through hers, in an “escort” fashion, and the two of them walked through the park.
At one point the suspect pushed the woman against a tree and held her there with his arm while he attempted to masturbate. According to the victim, the suspect got frustrated and pushed her to the ground. At about that time, two men walking their dog came through the park. The dog ran over to the suspect and victim. The victim told officers that the suspect told the dog to leave, and the dog walkers came over to apolgize and retrieve their dog. At that point the woman got up off the ground and walked away with the dog walkers. She then walked to the precinct where she reported the incident to officers.
Officers returned to the park to search for the suspect and any potential evidence/witnesses. During their search, officers encountered a group of men in the park, one of which matched some of the descriptions of the suspect. The victim stated that the person was not the suspect. However, during the pat down search of the potential suspect, officers located a concealed sword, meat cleaver, and black Airsoft revolver. That adult suspect was arrested and booked into the King County Jail for weapons violation. Again, the person arrested in the park early this morning was not the suspect described by the victim.
The victim described the suspect as a white male, in his 30′s, approximately 6 feet tall, thin build, with bad acne on his face, bad teeth, short black hair. He was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and armed with a knife.
Officers conducted an area search but did not locate the suspect.
Original report: Seattle Police says its detectives are investigating a sexual assault on Capitol Hill early Monday morning.
Details of what occurred in Cal Anderson have not yet been officially confirmed but TV stations are reporting that a woman told police she was attacked in the park by a man with a knife.
We do not yet have confirmation of the details or a suspect description from SPD.
Police responded to the attack just after 5 AM.
According to Seattle Police statistics, there were no rape cases in police beats covering Capitol Hill in 2012. Police reported seven cases across the entire city. SPD has not yet made any precinct-level data available in 2013.
Isn’t the park closed during that hour? I would not walk through there at that hour and I am a guy. Too many creepy homeless people and heroin addicts hang out there at night.
I wonder if some of the people involved in this scenario were homeless or at least camped out in the park? Who leaves their apartment that early to go for a walk (even with a dog)?
Could be someone like a bartender that doesn’t get home until 2 or 2:30. Or someone who has to be at work super-early.
Where did the guys with the dog go to? If they were approached and knew about this wouldn’t the police like to speak with them too? The story makes it sound like the victim walked with them away from the scene. This story sounds Cal Ander-suspicous
The suspect sounds exactly like the guy I caught a couple weeks ago, just having broken into my car and having stolen my laptop bag. I chased him and got the bag back… In any case, he looks like your garden-variety meth-head.
Yeah, I’m sure it’s a major conspiracy. Perhaps reaching to the highest levels of Seattle city government or maybe Portlandia’s. You’re a regular Sherlock Holmes.
This is so scary to me. I live right there and am up super early for work all the time. Summer attracts some not very good people to that park. I’m going to start caryying my pepper spray.
Why is the SPD allowing people to hang out/camp out in Cal Anderson late at night, when the park is closed? At the very least, they need to do a routine sweep at least twice a night, and clear out those who are there illegally.
At 5:45 this morning as I was walking to work I saw the police driving around the park, but no one out and walking around.
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