SILVER SPRING, Md. — Police are searching for a man who they say grabbed a woman coming out of a Silver Spring Safeway bathroom and raped her nearby.
The suspect was caught on surveillance camera, and Montgomery County Police Department detectives are asking for the public's help in tracking him down.
Officers responded to the scene on November 23 just after midnight for a report of a sexual assault in the area of Georgia Avenue and Reedie Drive in Wheaton. Detectives with Montgomery County Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) were notified and began investigating.
Detectives say the victim was with a friend at Wheaton Veterans Park, located at 11200 Amherst Avenue, when she walked to a nearby Safeway to use the bathroom.
When the victim left the bathroom, that's when a man grabbed her by the hand and forced her to leave the store, detectives said. Once they were outside, the suspect pulled the victim to an unknown area and raped her.
The victim found her friend and they called 911.
Surveillance video captured the suspect leading the victim out of the store.
The suspect is described as a 20- to 30-year-old man, Hispanic, with short black curly hair. He's 5 feet, 8 inches tall and between 150 and 160 pounds. Detectives say he has tattoos on both arms and one of the tattoos is lettering on his forearm. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, gray pants, and a green jacket.
Anyone with information about this suspect is asked to call the Special Victims Investigations Division at (240) 773-5050. Those who wish to remain anonymous may contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), online, or via the Crime Solvers app. Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information provided to them that leads to an arrest in this case.
