This morning, December 5, a Eugene Police officer was dispatched to a report of a woman who had been attacked by an unknown man while walking with her dog on the sidewalk on W. 18th Avenue. He contacted her at a local hospital where she was receiving treatment for non-life threatening injuries.
The victim reported she was walking her husky around 6:15 this morning, and was on a W. 18th Avenue sidewalk, near the bus stop, west of Brittany Street when a man grabbed her face from behind and covered her mouth. She was thankfully able to fight his hands from off her face, but he then punched her in the face and she fell to the ground and was struck in the back. The dog, in defense of its owner, bit the suspect, possibly on the leg, and the suspect left eastbound.
The suspect is described as a light-skinned man, possibly in his 30s, and last seen wearing a dark grey or black hoody, dark blue jeans, a black mask over his nose and mouth, and light grey gloves. He smelled like a campfire and was wearing hiking boots with one boot torn near the toe, leaving some sock showing.
If anyone has tips in this case, please call 541.682.5111.
GENERAL PERSONAL SAFETY TIPS
- Do not get into someone’s car even if they display a weapon. It is better to fight back in the street where help is closer at hand and other people may hear your calls for help.
- Walk confidently and don’t avoid eye contact
- Don’t let strangers into your ‘space.’ Keep plenty of distance between yourself and people you don’t wish to approach you.
- Don’t stop to talk with strangers asking for directions or other types of help as this can be a ploy to get close for an attack.
- Be aware of your surroundings at all times
- If you feel you are in danger or being followed, call 9-1-1
- If grabbed, fight back and make as much noise as possible.
- Use the buddy system when walking after dark or in ‘fringe’ areas, which are places there are fewer people travelling, allowing them a chance to victimize you without chancing witnesses. You should know the person you are walking with well enough to trust them.
- Walk in lighted areas as much as possible and don’t walk too close to bushes, alleyways or other places where attackers can conceal themselves
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Original source can be found here.
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