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WEST BOUNTIFUL -- Residents in West Bountiful were on high alert Sunday as police work to track down a man they say tried to sexually assault a woman on a popular biking trail.
The attack happened Saturday morning at 9:15 on the Prospector Rail Trail. Police say the man drove to the trail and hid in an area with tall trees and brush. When a 32-year-old woman ran by, the man tackled her from behind, choked her and sexually assaulted her.
Police say the woman tried to fight him off by biting his right hand and both forearms.
The concern is he would do it in broad daylight. The time of day he did it, and being that this place is highly traveled by bicyclists and other runners.
–Officer T.J. DeCarlo
"It's quite well hid from the visual eye on this running trail," said T.J. DeCarlo with the West Bountiful Police Department. "As he exited, the runner was unsuspecting that this individual was coming up behind her. By that time, once he got his arm around her and wrestled her to the ground."
Another woman told police she had been running on the trail before the assault and that the same man shouted at her from his car, saying she should get in with him. She ignored him and kept running.
Resident Dave Meidell had been on the trail about an hour before the assault, and his wife and been there 15 minutes earlier. Neither saw anything.
"My wife is one of the leaders of a women's organization here locally and she was on the phone immediately, talking to people and trying to warn them," he said. "It's a little bit scary."
Sunday afternoon, police released a pair of composite pictures. Witnesses describe the man as being in his 30s, clean shaven, with short hair, wearing slacks and a blue plaid, long-sleeve button-up shirt.
Police consider the man dangerous and call the attack "brazen."
"The concern is he would do it in broad daylight," said DeCarlo. "The time of day he did it and being that this place is highly traveled by bicyclists and other runners."
Police credit another woman with scaring the man off shortly after the attack. The suspect's car is described as a 2008 or newer silver Toyota Corolla with Utah Delicate Arch plates.
Anyone with information is asked to call West Bountiful police at 801-292-4487.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
