The Seattle Police Department has assigned extra officers and tactical units to patrol the North Precinct as detectives continue to investigate a series of weekend attacks on women in North Seattle.
Since Friday evening, police have received four different reports of sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults on women—all in their mid 30’s to late 40’s—at locations near the I-5 corridor.
Police have developed a sketch of the suspect who sexually assaulted a woman at knifepoint Friday evening near Northgate—the first of several attacks now under investigation—but detectives have not yet developed any leads conclusively linking the four incidents.
However, while police have yet to link the crimes, three victims described their attacker as a white male, 20 to 30 years old, between 5’7 and 6’0, 140 to 160 pounds, with short brown hair.
The Northgate attack suspect pictured in the sketch also had sunken light blue eyes, a tattoo under his left forearm, and a gravelly voice.
Police are also investigating a Sunday evening attack in Greenwood, where two masked men tried to force a woman into a van. Detectives believe the attempted kidnapping does not fit the pattern of the three other attacks and currently believe the incident is unrelated.
Patrol officers and detectives are now canvassing North Seattle neighborhoods looking for surveillance cameras, which could help identify a suspect, and are also looking for other witnesses who may have seen or heard anything around the time of the attacks.
