News

(Yi-Ke Peng/WOUB)

Athens PD Investigates Two Violent Assaults

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The Athens Police Department released a sketch of a suspect they believe was involved in two violent assaults in nine years in Athens.

Suspect Sketch
Suspect sketch provided by the Athens Police Department.

The male is suspected in two sexual assaults between 2006 and 2015, one on June 20, 2015  the details of which are “very similar” to one that occurred in 2006, according to a release by police.

In the alleged 2015 incident, a female reported that she had been walking home from the uptown area at about 2 a.m. when an unknown suspect approached her near a parking lot on East Carpenter Street.

“As she walked through the parking lot at the rear of 19 E. Carpenter St, an unknown suspect approached her from behind and attempted to sexually assault her but was scared away by others walking in the area,” the news release stated. “DNA evidence obtained as a result of the investigation was submitted to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for analysis.”

The results showed the suspect was the same suspect identified by DNA in the 2006 incident, in which a female was walking home from the uptown area and noticed an unknown white male following her.

“After arriving home, the suspect illegally entered the victim’s home and forcibly raped the victim and then fled the scene,” according to the release.

The victim in the 2006 incident described the suspect as being 5’8” to 5’10” tall, weighing 130 to 150 lbs., with short, light-colored hair, a similar description to that given for the suspect in the incident last year.

Police are seeking information on the 2015 suspect who is described as a white male in his late 20s to 30s, 5’8” to 5’9” tall, and weighing approximately 160 lbs.

Anyone with information related to the suspect or the incidents is asked to call the Athens Police Department at (740) 566-4208 or (740) 592-3313 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. or submit a crime tip here.

Anyone who believes they were a victim of the suspect is asked to contact police and visit APD’s website to submit a victim crime tip.

Crime tips can also be provided to Athens County Crime Solvers Anonymous by calling (740)594-3331.