RICHMOND, Va. -- A VCU graduate who works as a late night security guard said one thing she's learned from a July sexual assault, is to follow your gut instincts.
She said when she passed a man early one morning, she didn't notice that he was following her, but she had a feeling he was up to no good.
For a couple of years her job has been to protect students inside Brandt Hall across from Monroe Park.
Thursday she described the July 27 incident. "I decided to walk home because I didn't want to wait for the van offered on campus," she said.
She asked CBS 6 to hide her identity.
She said that she never thought it could happen to her. "I noticed someone near my job, but really didn't think anything of it," she said.
Brandt Hall across from Monroe Park
The victim walked from Brandt Hall on Franklin St., across Belvidere and left on Adams towards her apartment and police say, the whole time, she was being followed by the man captured in a surveillance still frame.
"The door to my building was shutting and he grabbed it open," she said. She said the man started asking questions about the apartment complex, getting closer and closer until he was in her personal space.
"He grabbed my left arm and kind of pulled me to the back of the building," she said. The female security guard said he began kissing her neck as she was struggling to leave, then started rubbing his body against hers.
"He started groping me and sexually assaulting me, but I was able to, in the spur of the moment, get away,” she said.
Richmond Police detectives are asking for the public’s help to identify a suspect in the attached photos, who is believed to have sexually assaulted a woman in late-July.
The victim said she hasn't seen her attacker since, but has advice for other women who may think, “Oh, it won't happen to me.”
"Make sure you have a source of protection or call an Uber, but don't walk alone," she said.
The suspect is described as a black male, 5’8”-5’9” tall, weighing approximately 150 pounds. At the time of the incident, he wore glasses, a black hoodie and jeans.
“We have very clear images of this individual,” said Major Crimes Detective Greg Russell. “We just need the right person in the community to see these photos and help us identify him.”
Anyone with any information about this incident or this individual is asked to call Major Crimes Detective Greg Russell at (804) 646-7715 or Crime Stoppers at 780-1000. Citizens can also text Crime Stoppers at 274637, using the key word “ITip” followed by your tip or submit a tip online at http://www.7801000.com.
