GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Beaten and disoriented: That’s how a Gainesville woman said she woke up early Thursday morning only to find she was sexually abused.
Police say the woman was walking to a homeless shelter when she was assaulted.
It happened on Northeast 15th Avenue. It was late at night on Wednesday. She had just gotten off a bus when she said she was attacked from behind. Police said she woke up on the steps of the Upper Room of Greater Gainesville Church of God at 3575 NE 15th St.
The women who live in the neighborhood in northeast Gainesville are on alert after learning the woman was sexually attacked and the suspect got away.
“That's really worrisome and bothersome because they don't know who did it,” said resident Gloria Williams.
Williams said that she’s going to take steps to protect herself. “We have to be more careful as women,” Williams said.
“I don't want to say carry a weapon but nowadays you might need to because this world is crazy,” said resident Qutavia Cook
Gainesville Police Department got the call around 2:30 a.m. Thursday and found the woman beaten with some of her clothing missing.
She said she had just gotten off the bus and was headed to the Grace Marketplace homeless shelter. Police say she woke up with her pants pulled down and cuts on her face it all happened just steps away from an elementary school.
“She said at some point after getting off the bus, she was attacked from the rear by a black male. That was the only description she could provide,” said GPD Officer Ben Tobias.
This is the third sexual assault Gainesville police are investigating in less than a week.
Two women were attacked near the University of Florida campus over the weekend. The suspect in that case also got away but police said the latest incident is not related.
“The suspect in the other case was a white male. It's geographically very far apart. There's absolutely no connection,” Tobias said.
While the first two incidents and the third are not connected, all the incidents have something in common: all three victims were walking at night alone.
Police say the fact that three women were sexually attacked in the same week is a coincidence but it is a crime is that’s concerning and right now police don’t have much to go on.
The Gainesville Police Department was stepping up patrols Thursday.
“It's not only going to be marked patrols that you can see there will be an undercover element,” said Tobias.
Since 2012, the GPD has investigated, on average, about 84 incidents of sexual battery per year.
Police fear the suspects in the most recent cases could strike again. It’s why they’re urging women to not walk alone, especially at night.
Police say they’re working on reviewing surveillance video in the first incidents near UF’s campus. In the latest incident, police are working on re-interviewing the victim to see if she remembers any more details of the suspect.
WJAX
