Police Searching For Victim, Assailant In RivCo Attack

RIVERSIDE, CA — Riverside police investigators Friday were seeking the public's assistance to locate both the victim and suspect in a recent attack on a downtown street.

According to the Riverside Police Department, a teenage girl was in the area of Market and Sixth streets, near the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, when an unknown man physically assaulted her, possibly inflicting injuries, shortly after 3 a.m. on April 25.

The circumstances were unclear.

Witnesses who were not acquainted with either party called 911, but when patrol officers reached the location, "They learned the parties involved had left the area prior to police contact, and no identifying information was provided," police Lt. Steve Espinosa said.

"Officers obtained surveillance footage from a nearby business and gathered witness statements," Espinosa said. "The suspect was identified as an adult male seen in the area at the time of the incident."

Still-frame video images circulated by investigators did not clearly depict the individual, showing him only as a light-skinned Hispanic or Caucasian man with facial hair and partially bald. His dark-colored tank-top shirt appeared to have been torn open in the picture.

Detectives want to interview the victim, but her identity, too, is a mystery, according to Espinosa.

Her friends and family, or anyone who may have been in the downtown area during the predawn hours of April 25 and who spotted anything unusual in the vicinity of where the attack occurred, was asked to come forward.

Espinosa can be reached at 951-826-5959. Alternately, police dispatch is available at 951-354-2007.