Stranger reportedly attacks woman on Jacksonville Beach

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A woman reported a stranger attacked her on Jacksonville Beach early Wednesday morning.

“This was a ‘knock you out’ type hit. The wind was completely knocked out of me,” said Amy Lowery.

Lowery was enjoying a walk on the beach around 1 a.m., waiting for her next Lyft passenger to request a ride.

She said she turned on her phone’s flashlight and was talking to her best friend on speakerphone.

“The next thing I know, bam, I’m on the ground and I’m trying to push myself up off the sand. And I look up and there’s this guy standing over me,” said Lowery.

Lowery said her friend started yelling on speakerphone.

“She was like, ‘Are you OK? Are you OK? Do I need to call someone?’ When the second ‘Do I need to call someone’ came out, he bee-lined,” said Lowery.

Lowery said she’s afraid of what might have happened if that hadn’t scared him off.

“I probably would have been raped or robbed.”

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Lowery said she was walking near the shoreline, closest to the entrance by the Seawalk Pavilion.

Just three blocks away from there, near the Jacksonville Beach Pier, another woman reported a man pushed her to the ground, threw sand in her face, and pulled down her underwear in October.

A witness told 911 he heard her screams, scared off her attacker and followed the stranger until officers could arrest him.

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“A major strip with major hotels, large amount of crowds through the bars here, and there is not one light on the beach. But yet, there were so many people out here,” said Lowery. “They need to light this beach. Don’t light the whole beach. There are lights that are safe for the turtles.”

In the meantime, Lowery said she’s grateful she was able to walk away -- even if it’s with a limp.

She said the man who attacked her was about 6-foot-2 with chin-length light-colored hair.

She said he was wearing a gray T-shirt and gray running shorts.

If you have any information about what happened, call Jacksonville Beach Police at 904-270-1661.

Cox Media Group