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Apr 24, 2009 10:47 pm US/Central
Watchful Neighbors Rally Around Garage Rape Victim
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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Neighbors said while there are petty crimes and break-ins in the area, they've never seen anything like this attack.
CBS
A south Minneapolis neighborhood is on watch Friday night after one of its neighbors was raped in her garage. It happened on the 3600 block of 26th Avenue South around 2:30 Thursday afternoon.
According to police, the woman went outside to check on a noise in her backyard. She was beaten and raped in her detached garage.
Neighbors said while there are petty crimes and break-ins in the area, they've never seen anything like this attack.
"I was really nervous," said neighbor Diane Sarkis. "We never expected this to happen during the day like this."
Sarkis' husband came home yesterday to find police in the alley behind his house. When he asked what happened, he was given few details, but was told there was an assault.
Within hours, Sarkis and her neighbors alerted everyone in the surrounding blocks. No one had seen anything out of the ordinary.
"You feel violated as neighborhood, because we have a really strong community and a really strong neighborhood," said neighbor Maggie Turner.
On Friday night, Minneapolis City Councilman Gary Schiff organized a community meeting. Representatives from the police department were there to answer questions. While they couldn't give many more details about the crime, Crime Prevention Specialist Karen Notsch offered some advice.
She told people to call 911 if they sense anything suspicious in the area, even if it's a strange noise in their backyard. She asked the community to be more visible and stick together. She said there are increased patrols in the neighborhood. She told the two dozen people that gathered what the victim said today.
"I did talk with the victim today and one of the concerns she talked about was her concern for your safety and to get the word out as soon as possible," said Notsch.
She said the victim, who was home on Friday, was traumatized and, understandably, found it difficult to remember details. The suspect is between 20 and 40 years old, 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall, with medium build. He wore a grey hooded sweatshirt and jeans. He took off when the woman he attacked fought back.
"We don't have to lock ourselves in our houses. We don't have to do that, but pay attention to the cues that you get," said Notsch.
Anyone with information is urged to call Minneapolis police at 612-673-2913.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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