THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504080232
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
A 15-year-old girl was assaulted Friday morning in the city's East End, reigniting fears that a series of unsolved attacks on young females has started again.
The girl escaped to a neighbor's house and was not harmed.
Police spokeswoman Patricia L Mahaffy said police are looking for a light-skinned black male, in his late teens or early 20s, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing between 120 and 130 pounds. He was dressed in a hooded jacket, blue pants and white tennis shoes at the time of the attack, Mahaffy said.
About 6:50 a.m., the girl was at 25th Street and Orcutt Avenue near St. John's Church when the suspect walked up and grabbed her arm. She broke free and ran to a nearby house in the 1000 block of 25th St.
Although the case is being investigated as if it were connected to the earlier attacks, Mahaffy said, police believe it differed in many significant ways.
For instance, this attacker approached from the front, Mahaffy said. The earlier attacker approached his victims from behind.
Four years ago, during the winter of 1990 and the spring of 1991, six young girls were attacked in a six-block area of the city's mostly black East End.
Two more girls were attacked in the fall of 1991. Other assaults have occurred intermittently since then.
Police believe as many as 15 girls have been assaulted. None of the girls was raped. All were assaulted coming from or going to school. Some were injured, and a few were fondled.
Police set up a hot line to assist in the investigation. Although many calls were fielded, no arrests were made.
Mahaffy on Friday urged anyone with information about the attacks to call 247-8661.
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT by CNB