GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A Grand Rapids neighborhood is on high alert after a group of men broke into a home and one of the suspects sexually assaulted the woman living inside.
It happened at about 8 p.m. Monday at a home near Jackson and Garfield Avenue Northwest when the victim says her door was kicked in.
Hours later she says she found a way to call police. The alleged victim told officials she was taken into a dark room in her basement after she was attacked and was unable to call police until she felt it was safe.
That was around 4:30 a.m. the next morning. FOX 17 spoke with neighbors who say they're really shaken up and afraid to go outside while the four suspects are still at large.
Tammy Hall is afraid to even walk her dog after her neighbor reported four men pushed themselves inside her home Monday night, one of them sexually assaulting her.
“I was laying there just frozen in fear and then I heard a scream.” She said. That was around 4 a.m.
Police say the victim called at 4:30 a.m. saying the men had forced her into a dark room downstairs.
It was only then, more than eight hours after they showed up that she felt safe to call police.
When officers arrived the men were gone.
“I didn`t call the police when it happened because we have college kids here and they party a lot in their basement and I thought maybe it`s something with them and they wrote us letters asking don’t call the police when they’re partying, just come and see them,” Hall said.
She did call police after seeing the break in and assault reported on FOX 17.
This neighborhood is filled with college housing, which is now alarming and nerve-wracking for those students while these suspects are still on the run.
“It’s really scary when it’s right there and there are so many young girls around here, tons of them,” Hall said.
Here are the descriptions of the suspects from police:
One suspect is described as a Hispanic male who is 5 feet 4 inches tall, roughly 150 lbs. He is believed to be between 35 and 40 years old with a large scar on his right cheek. He has a tattoo of a cross on one of his biceps, and police say he was last seen wearing a red plaid shirt and dark jeans.
The second suspect is a Hispanic male between 20 and 25 years old, with “average build and height. ” He was last seen wearing a dark green shirt and jeans.
The third suspect is a bald black male in his late 50s. He is described as 6 feet tall with an average build and was last seen wearing a zip-up jacket and jeans.
The final suspect is a black male in his early 40s, about 5 feet 6 inches tall with an average build and short dark hair. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt and jeans.
Anyone with information on this incident or any of these suspects is asked to call Grand Rapids Police Department at 616-456-3403 or Silent Observer at 616-774 –2345.
