Authorities are still looking for a suspect who allegedly raped a woman in Imperial Beach on July 8.
Sheriffs said the alleged sexual assault happened around 1:20 a.m. near Palm Avenue and 5th Street.
According to authorities, a 41-year-old woman was walking toward the beach on Palm Avenue when an unknown male approached her from behind and asked her for a cigarette.
When the woman told the man she did not have a cigarette, sheriffs said the suspect pulled out a knife and dragged the victim into the yard of a home about a block away where he proceeded to allegedly rape her.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Laura Spang-Dvorchak said the sexual assault was interrupted when a group of pedestrians approached the scene. Once he heard voices of passerby, sheriffs said the suspect fled on foot.
Sheriffs said the victim called authorities and waited for help in front of Mar Vista High School. The victim's identity was not released.
Deputies immediately began searching the area for the suspect but were unable to locate him.
The suspect is described as a 6-foot-1-inch black male in his 30s with a lean build weighing approximately 175-pounds. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and long dark shorts at the time of the attack, sheriffs said.
On July 16 sheriffs released a sketch of the suspect sought in this sexual assault.
Anyone with information should contact the San Diego Sheriff’s Sexual Assault Unit at (858) 874-2316 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
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