Police: Man tries to sexually assault, rob teen in Edmonds

EDMONDS, Wash. — Edmonds police are searching for the attacker who tried to sexually assault and rob a teen when she got off a bus Thursday. The attack happened at 75th Ave West and 230th St S.W. near Lake Ballinger.

The 19-year-old Edmonds Community College student was headed home at 6:20 p.m. Thursday when she said she was grabbed. Police say the man tried to pull her behind some bushes. She screamed for help. A neighbor walking his dog ran to help. Another couple driving by gave police a description of the suspect.

The man was able to run to a white Chevrolet van he parked nearby. The van was white with a ladder rack on top without a ladder. The van had windows on the sides.

Witnesses say the suspect is a man in his 30s or 40s and is between 5-foot-9 and 6 feet tall, weighs about 180 pounds and clean shaven. Witnesses said he was wearing an orange jacket with a hoodie, a blue baseball cap and dark pants.

Neighbors were already on heightened alert after another crime occurred on the block last September. Robbers tied up an 83-year-old woman and stole her daughter's gold coin collection. The street has a strong neighborhood watch.
"Lucky the neighbor was home to stop this in time from happening," said Sandy Johnson, who lives a couple houses down.

Neighbors think being vigilant likely stopped Thursday's assault.

The victim is an exchange student from Hong Kong. Her host mother told KIRO-7 the teen is trying to put the attack behind her.

KIRO