'If you scream, I'll kill you:' Jogger Fights Off Rapist

LOS ANGELES, CA — Police Friday released a sketch of a man who robbed and assaulted a woman at knifepoint as she ran along a trail in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area.

The attack was reported at 8:35 p.m. Thursday on a path alongside Burbank Boulevard and Woodley Avenue, said Officer Irma Mota of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section.

The woman was running along the path when she looked back and noticed the man with a large knife, Mota said.

The man demanded her cellphone, which he forcibly took, before dragging her to some tall bushes and telling her, "If you scream, I'll kill you," police said.

Fearing she would be raped, the woman fought back, police said.

"The suspect kicked her several times and threw her over a fence before fleeing on the bike path," according to a police statement.

Fire department paramedics responded to the scene and treated the woman for various injuries, police said.

She did not require hospitalization, Mota said.

The attacker is described as Hispanic, around 30 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, about 180 pounds with black hair, brown eyes and a scruffy beard. He was wearing a black hoodie and black sweat pants.

Anyone with information about the suspect was urged to call (818) 374- 7730 to speak with Detective Toosbuy or (818) 374-7611 to speak with the watch commander of the LAPD's West Valley Station.

After-hours or weekend calls should be directed to (877) LAPD-24-7 and anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling (800) 222- TIPS.

City News Service