GRESHAM, Ore. — Gresham police have released surveillance video of a man believed to be the suspect in a Jan. 19 attempted sexual assault, and are asking for the public's help to identify the person.
The incident happened at about 12:15 p.m. at Pat Pfeifer Park near Northeast 172nd Avenue and East Burnside Street. Police said the attempted sexual assault was unprovoked, and the victim fought off the attacker and ran from the park before calling police.
The victim called the non-emergency number rather than 911, and it ended up taking 90 minutes before she was able to get through to police and report what happened. Police responded and searched the park, but the suspect was nowhere to be found.
The suspect was described as a Latino male in his 30s wearing a beige or pink hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, but there were initially no images of him available. Police released two surveillance video screenshots of the suspect on Wednesday and asked for the public's assistance to identify him.
Police are concerned there may be more unreported incidents of unwanted sexual contact involving the same suspect, according to a news release from the Gresham Police Department. Anyone who is a victim or can identify the suspect is asked to call Detective Kerbs at 503-618-3146.
A spokesperson for the Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications told KGW last week that it would have been appropriate for the victim in the Jan. 19 attack to call 911 in that circumstance, and said it's important for police to clarify when people should and should not call 911.
Police have urged Portlanders to report non-urgent crimes to the non-emergency number in order to keep the 911 lines clear, but the spokesperson said that people should call 911 if they're not sure which number is appropriate for their particular case, noting that dispatchers can transfer 911 calls to the non-emergency queue if they turn out to be less urgent, but not the reverse.
