Police release sketch after assault near UW

SEATTLE — Seattle police released a sketch of the man they say sexually assaulted a woman in an alley in the 5100 block of Ravenna Avenue NE on May 26. But no one in the community knew until nearly a week later. A University of Washington crime alert didn't go out until June 1.

“That's a whole week that goes by where you're still oblivious to what happened,” UW junior Alexis Harper said.

That’s troubling to Harper, who was the victim of another crime that happened off campus in February.

Police caught the man, Asfawesan Dres, who allegedly broke into her U-District home while she was sleeping, just days after they say he had raped another student. Harper wasn’t attacked, but she knows time matters.

KIRO 7 spoke to Seattle police Detective Mark Jamieson and asked why it took nearly a week to let the public know what happened.

“Well, again, we did not put out the crime alert. The crime alert comes from the University of Washington,” Jamieson said.

KIRO 7 spoke to UW Police. They said SPD notified them about the assault on May 31. An alert was sent out to students the following day.

KIRO 7 asked SPD about the timeline. SPD said the crime was reported secondhand about 10 p.m. That’s about four hours after the woman was assaulted. SPD also said officers were with the victim within an hour of the 911 call.

But SPD never publicly released information until Monday, when this sketch was released.

KIRO 7 asked if it was incumbent on Seattle police to try to get the information out to the public as soon as possible.

“Well, again we put out information, detailed information today complete with a sketch,” Jamieson responded. “So, investigations like this can take some time in coordinating with victim, getting the information. We want to make sure the information is accurate.”

The attacker was reportedly startled and scared off by a passing car and was last seen running southbound.

KIRO 7 also wanted to know if the victim attends UW, and was told only she is a woman in her 20s.

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Cox Media Group