Special Victims Division detectives are working to identify a man who attacked a woman Wednesday just after 10 a.m. as she was putting her toddler into her vehicle in a church parking lot at 444 Hicks Road. She is a church member and was alone with her child at the time of the assault.
The woman was attacked from behind by a man armed with a knife. He grabbed her by her hair and attempted to take her clothes off. She fought back and he fled into the woods behind the church, possibly to a nearby homeless encampment.
The suspect is described as a white man with a thin build. He has shoulder-length blonde hair and bushy beard. He was wearing a dark colored and white flannel-type shirt, dark pants, and black sneakers.
Efforts by a police canine team and a MNPD helicopter crew to locate the man were unsuccessful.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463 or the Department of Emergency Communications at 615-862-8600.
