Highland Park On Edge After Sex Assault in Town

HIGHLAND PARK, NJ - To say that Highland Park is unnerved after a young mother was brutally beaten and sexually assaulted Sunday evening while out walking her baby is understatement. People who live in this close-knit, well-to-do college town are "incredibly scared," as one resident put it Tuesday.

"It's frightening," said Lisa Berman, 48, a Highland Park resident who lives just a few blocks away from Harper Street, where the woman was attacked. "Until this guy is caught, everyone in the community is scared to go out now."

The attack happened in daylight, at the end of an unseasonably warm day, and just blocks from the bustling main street in town. It occurred at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the corner of South 1st Avenue and Harper Street, a quiet, residential neighborhood of private homes and a few apartment buildings. Many Rutgers students live in the area. The woman, 36, was walking on Harper Street when the suspect approached her at gunpoint, forced her into the basement of the Harper House apartment building, and repeatedly punched her. The beating was "severe," police said. He then sexually assaulted her, police said. Several media outlets reported that she was walking her baby in a stroller at the time she was attacked. The Middlesex County prosecutor's office declined to confirm that, saying they wanted to protect the woman's identity.

The woman escaped and ran to a neighboring house, where she pounded on the door. She was covered in blood. The baby was not reported to be injured. Her attacker fled the scene.

"I know I locked my door last night," said Mary, a 23-year-old woman who lives on South 1st, not far from the attack. "A lot of moms are nervous about walking to their cars now. Because Highland Park is so small and portrayed as very safe — and it is — and then something like this happens ..."

"It's incredibly scary," said Berman. "This is the kind of town where everyone walks everywhere. I take the dog out for a walk every evening. I didn't do it last night. I have two daughters, 13 and 16, and I let them walk to their friends' houses all the time by themselves. Well, yesterday my daughter's friend was supposed to come over, but her mom and dad walked her over instead. And instead of all the girls walking to 418 Burgers, her dad went and picked up the burgers instead. People usually walk to church and now they're taking cabs."

"This was too close for comfort," said Rabbi Steven Miodownik, who oversees Congregation Ahavas Achim on Johnson Street, located just a few blocks away from the attack. "I've been here for 15 years and you never hear of anything like this happening here. People are upset and very nervous just going about their daily routine."

Highland Park police, working in conjunction with the Middlesex County prosecutor's office, are taking the case very seriously, residents say: Officers have been circulating a photo of the suspect, picked up on surveillance footage, to local businesses along Raritan Avenue, the town's main drag. And detectives have been going door to door to businesses in towns, asking if they can review their security cameras. In a Facebook post, Highland Park police cautioned residents to avoid walking alone at night and to walk in groups. They warned people not to talk on their cell phones or listen to headphones while locking up their cars.

The Highland Park School District has teams of trained counselors on-hand in all four schools if students want to talk about the incident, said superintendent Dr. Scott Taylor, who called this "a difficult time for our community."

The suspect is described as a black male in his early to mid-20s, five-feet, seven-inches tall with a medium build and short hair. He was wearing a red T-shirt, black jacket and grey sweatpants.

"The moms walk around here, the kids walk around. That's how Highland Park has always been. I would never think twice that someone would do something like this in this type of neighborhood," said Berman. "Now who knows if it might happen again? That's what makes it even more frightening."

Original article: Highland Park Sex Assault Sunday; Attacker At Large

Wikimedia Commons image/14 January 2012 Source: Own work Author: Dough4872