Sex Assault in Park Follows Victim's Twitter Broadcast of Her Location: LAPD Investigates

By Dennis Romero Thu., Nov. 10 2011 at 2:16 PM

Al Herrmann

A view from Elysian Park.

Updated at the bottom with more details from the LAPD. First posted at 7 a.m.

A young woman who moments earlier tweeted her location was sexually assaulted in Elysian Park, police told the Weekly last night.

It happened on Halloween afternoon to a woman in her 20s.

LAPD Sgt. Chris Gomez told us "it was a penetration with a body part other than his genitals."

The victim, whose name was withheld, recovered:

She was treated at the scene and released, Gomez said.

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Cops are looking into whether her location tweet could have alerted the attacker to the victim's whereabouts.

Perhaps even creepier: The victim reportedly said she had seen the man before. It's not clear if that's because he was following her Twitter account though.

All is under investigation.

In any case, he's a brave attacker: Elysian Park is home to the LAPD Police Academy.

The Eastsider LA broke the news of the assault yesterday, reporting that the woman said she had seen the man around the park previously.

Needless to say, cops are looking for him. For now they're mum about a suspect description.

"We caution people to be aware of their surroundings," Gomez said.

[Update]: In statement released this afternoon the LAPD released some more details about the attack:

On October 31, 2011, at about 1p.m., a female was sexually assaulted in Elysian Park. The victim was hiking by herself on a trail near Academy Drive and Stadium Way. As she was near the end of the trail, approximately 25 yards from her vehicle, the suspect came out of the bushes, near the trail and grabbed her from behind. The suspect placed one hand over her mouth andsexually assaulted her with the other hand. The victim struggled with the suspect and was able to free herself after which the suspect fled on foot into the park.
The suspect is described as a male, Hispanic with black hair and brown eyes. He stands about 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches, weighs approximately 210 pounds and is in his early to mid 30s. He was wearing a white T-shirt and light blue basketball shorts, with white tennis shoes.

If you think you know the guy call police at 213-847-5454.

[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com/@LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

Elysian Park, LAPD, rape, sexual assault, social media, Twitter

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Amy Alkon

I don't understand people who post their location on Twitter. Some even post that they're at home, with the address.

Yougottabekidding

"The suspect is described as a male, Hispanic with black hair and brown eyes. He stands about 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches, weighs approximately 210 pounds and is in his early to mid 30s. He was wearing a white T-shirt and light blue basketball shorts, with white tennis shoes."

Shouldn't be too hard to find in that area.

Dennis Romero

Good point Yougotta. I should have taken that out. I wasn't really paying attention. That could be me! Except I dress much better than that. Seriously.

Yougottabekidding

Well, at least it didn't say he was wearing blue shorts and a blue tee shirt with Addias running shoes and shouting cadences. No racism intended-- just spent and still spend a lot of time in that area, and I never considered it safe-- ever-- even on Saturday and Sunday family barbacoa days. And just over the hill, it maybe gentrified to some extent, but the "vatos" still rule the night.

BLarry

Perhaps brazen attacker over brave?

Monalsa Liz-ardo

This is one of the reasons that tweeting every little thing you're doing and thinking is stupid. Why should I tell the world where I'm at or just finished dinner? There are psychos and criminals out there waiting for you to leave your kids unattended. Yeah, tell the whole world what you're doing and it is soooo important that they need to know. As for this woman, she got hurt but alive.