A Lawrenceville woman was attacked, bound and sexually assaulted by a stranger in her own backyard Saturday morning, as her family ate breakfast inside and neighbors prepped for a birthday party.
“This happened in broad daylight,” neighbor Rhonda Watt said Tuesday. “The kids next door were playing, their mother was out there watering their garden.”
Gwinnett County police are asking for the public’s help finding the brazen assailant.
The attack happened around 10:20 a.m. Saturday in Twin Branches, a subdivision near the Lawrenceville intersection of Braselton Highway and Prospect Road. A Gwinnett County police incident report said the 33-year-old woman was tied up and sexually assaulted “in the shed behind her house.”
Watt told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the woman had gone into the shed to begin work on a piece of furniture she was re-finishing. Her attacker was waiting inside.
“He told her he’d kill her if she made one noise,” Watt said.
The suspect ran away after restraining, punching and sexually assaulting the woman, who was able to free herself and run inside for help after the attack.
Police responded to the scene, canvassed the neighborhood and interviewed potential witnesses, Cpl. Deon Washington said, but the suspect was not found. He is described as a man in his mid-30s or early 40s with a stocky build and, during Saturday’s assault, he was wearing a polo-style shirt, blue jeans, black glasses and a red ball cap, police said.
Residents are urged to call 911 if they “see anyone who is suspicious or matches the description of the suspect,” Washington said.
Watt said she has lived in Twin Branches for 25 years, calling the subdivision close-knit and safe. She said that, since the attack, groups of volunteers have started patrolling the neighborhood at night.
A neighborhood meeting is scheduled for Wednesday night.
“I think we’re more angry than scared,” Watt said, “but we will do what we can to watch our for each other and ourselves.
“We pray it’s an isolated incident.”
Anyone with information that may help in the case is asked to contact Gwinnett County police special victims unit detectives at 770-513-5300. Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous are asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS or crimestoppersatlanta.org.
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