Woman Scares off Would-Be Attacker on Atlanta Trail

An Emory University medical student used skills she learned in a self-defense class to scare off a would-be attacker who ambushed her while she was jogging on an Atlanta trail Monday.

WSB-TV reports that Pearl Ryder was taking the Freedom Park Trail and had just made the intersection of North and Euclid avenues when she head rustling leaves and saw a man chasing after her. She turned to face the man, assumed a defensive position, and yelled at him. The tactic worked, as the man beat a hasty retreat.

Ryder described the would-be attacker as a man in his 50’s, with a clean-shaven face and ash blond hair. Atlanta police searched for the man but did not find him.