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发帖数: 10208 | 1 http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ab25033b-49
ST. LOUIS COUNTY • A third woman may have been attacked by a serial
rapist whom police believe is targeting Asian woman in northwestern St.
Louis County, police said at a town hall meeting and safety class Tuesday at
Parkway North High School.
In an attack sometime in June 2011, a woman was outside an apartment
building in the Beau Jardine apartments near North Lindbergh and Olive
boulevards. The man grabbed her around the neck and pulled her down, but the
woman began screaming and the man ran away. The woman was of Indian descent
, and the man in this and the other incidents was described as Hispanic,
said Sgt. Craig Longworth of the St. Louis County Police.
The woman reported the incident to the apartment complex, and officials
there recently reported the incident to police after reports of other
attacks, one of which happened two months before in the same apartment
complex. In that incident, on April 4, 2011, a man entered a woman's
apartment, pulled a blanket over the woman's head while she was sleeping and
sexually assaulted her. There were no signs of forced entry and the victim,
27, told police she didn't remember locking her door. That woman is of
Korean descent.
The second sexual assault occurred Sept. 19. An 18-year-old woman of Chinese
descent was walking home from a friend's house near Fee Fee and Bennington
roads when she was grabbed from behind and taken to a nearby grassy area and
attacked.
Police said DNA evidence links the same man to both sexual assaults, which
were within a five mile radius. The man fits the description of the man in
the June 2011 attack, though there is no biological evidence to positively
link him.
Police are reaching out to Asian and Hispanic cultural groups in the area to
get the word out about the attacks, said St. Louis County Police Chief Tim
Fitch. They simply want to generate leads, he said. “In 32 years in this
business, when you have someone involved in a pattern like this, they
continue. They don't stop.”
Olivia Pieknik, 52, of Ballwin, who is Vietnamese, offered her translation
services to police if they need it, and pointed out there are particular
language and cultural barriers. “Women feel that they don't want to report
it, because they don't want to be blamed for the situation,” she said. “
When the community comes together, it might deter the community from
repeating their crimes.”
There have been similar reports in recent years of a man targeting Asian
women in California, New York and Maryland, police said. So far police have
found no DNA matches to other crimes.
After the meeting, Paul Fritsche and Midwest Krav Maga Self Defense and
Fitness in St. Charles County led a self-defense class. He told women to be
aware when they are walking around, trust their instincts, and be assertive
and calm when using their voice.
Yen-Yi Chen, 47, of Maryland Heights, attended the meeting out of concern
for her daughter, Pennie Liu, 18, a senior at Parkway North. Her daughter
is being more careful on the five-minute walk home from the bus stop, she
said, and no longer listens to music on her headphones and has her keys
ready to use. "I plan to get a whistle for her, too," she said.
Anyone with information can call police at 314-889-2341 or CrimeStoppers at
866-371-8477. |
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