|
Ashland police search for rape suspect
Attack could be related to 1997 incident By WENDY SIPOREN ASHLAND -- A 22-year-old woman was raped under the threat of knifepoint Wednesday night on Gresham Street near downtown. Ashland Police Captain Mike DeCapua said police are investigating the possibility that the rape is related to two rapes and a sexual assault which occurred in Ashland and Medford in early 1997. "The suspect (in the earlier incidents) was younger, but he seems to be similar in appearance" and method, said DeCapua. In the latest incident, police report that the woman was walking in the 100 block of Gresham shortly before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday when an unknown man approached her and asked for directions. He then claimed he had a knife and forced the woman behind a nearby shed where he raped her. Following the attack, the woman told police, the suspect fled on foot down Gresham Street and may have then entered a car and driven off. The suspect is described as a short 40-to- 45-year-old male with short dark hair and a pot belly. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt, khaki shorts, tennis shoes and white socks. He is reported to speak with an East Coast accent. DeCapua recommends that if women are approached on the street and asked questions by an unknown, lone male that they avoid conversation and hurry to a well-lit location. He also suggested that women carry and use a whistle to draw attention to a potentially dangerous situation. DeCapua stressed that this type of assault is rare in Ashland, with the last incidents occurring in 1997. At that time, Ashland police were searching for a 5-foot-11-inch white male in his late 20s to early 30s with a pot belly who may have been responsible for a sexual assault and a rape around Southern Oregon University. The Feb. 24 sexual assault occurred at 11 p.m. in the 400 block of Siskiyou Blvd. A 23-year-old woman reported a man walked up, said something to her and then dragged her to a secluded area. He ran off when she bit his hand and kicked him in the groin. Less than five weeks later on April 1, a 21-year-old woman was walking near Clarke Avenue and Garden Way about 8 p.m. when a man approached her, spoke to her briefly and then grabbed her. He pulled her to a remote part of Garden Way Park and raped her. He told her that he had a knife. On Jan. 17, 1997, a man posing as an undercover narcotics detective raped a 19-year-old woman in a dimly lit business driveway on Riverside Avenue near downtown Medford. The victim said her attacker had an East Coast accent. Ashland police ask anyone with information about the incident to call the department at 482-5211 or their tips hotline at 552-2125. |
Mail Tribune
Copyright © The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA
