San Francisco Police have released a suspect sketch of the man who violently attacked and allegedly attempted to rape a woman who was walking on 23rd Street near Church Street around 2:40 a.m. on the morning of January 6th.
The victim's account spread last week as it was emailed to neighborhood groups, shared across Facebook and posted on local blogs, eventually sparking a rally for solidarity in the Mission last Friday. The woman explained that she tried to avoid the suspect as she was walking alone, but he lunged at her, put his thumb in her eye and stifled her screams with his hand in her mouth. The victim was thrown to the ground, where the suspect apparently tried to knock her unconscious by slamming her head on the concrete. The victim was able to wrestle herself free and yell for help before a neighbor heard her screams and scared the man off.
The suspect is described as either an Asian or Hispanic male, about 25 years-old, 5-foot-10, 160 lbs. he had a buzzed haircut and slight beard growth and was wearing a dark hooded shirt and dark pants at the time of the incident. Anyone with any information is encouraged to call SFPD's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444, or via text message to TIP411 with "SFPD" in the text.
In the meantime, Friday's solidarity rally was a valuable moment for many in the neighborhood. Mission Mission and SFBG were there and gathered some impressions about the event that covered everything from self-defense courses, to first-person accounts of survival and illuminating remarks from local writers. Mission Mission also shared some valuable insight gleaned from the event that are especially important to remember in a time when accounts like these are occasionally dismissed as Internet hoaxes:
- If someone says she was sexually assaulted, believe her.
- Don’t ignore cries for help.
- Get to know everyone in your neighborhood.
- Don’t blame the victim.
- Don’t joke about rape.
Previously: Woman Violently Assaulted During Possible Rape Attempt In The Mission
