Rapist Scare in South Jersey

Police in Edgewater Park Township, N.J., want to know who grabbed a woman in broad daylight and raped her Thursday -- just a half-mile from the police station.

Investigators said a man grabbed a woman from behind, grabbed her around the neck, started choking her and then sexually assaulted her.

It was just before 9 a.m. when the 40-year-old woman was walking her dog along a short wooded path off of Delanco Road, when a man first passed her and then grabbed her from behind, police said. He then pushed her to the ground.

The Edgewater Park Township police department said the man sexually assaulted the woman and then fled toward the Edgewater Manor Apartments.

Residents of the apartments were stunned and frightened by the attack so close to home.

Neighbors said they were surprised because there has been little crime in the area.

"Kids walk through here to get to school every morning. That's ridiculous. There's a bunch of kids who walk through here every morning to go to school," said a woman only identified as Lauren.

The Ridgewood School is about a mile from where the attack took place.

The suspect was described as a black male, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall, in his late 20s or early 30s, average build, wearing a green Carhart jacket with a brown corduroy collar and painters'-type jeans.

Edgewater Park Township police are asking anyone with any information to call them at (609) 267-8300.

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