One month after a brutal sexual assault, the Renton Police Department now asks for the public’s help to catch the suspect.
The attack happened early July 4, near the Cedar River Dog Park, near Liberty Park. Police said they’ve kept the information to themselves for so long because they do not see the attack as random.
The victim was acquainted with the suspect and they don’t believe he is a threat to the public. Renton police also have very clear images of the suspect, captured by their own dashcam hours before the alleged attack.
“This is obviously a brutal kind of assault,” said Renton Detective Robert Onishi.
Detective Onishi recoiled as he recalled the July 4 attack. He said it began with the victim coming across a group of men at Liberty Park. She knew one of them casually and they all decided to go get drinks. They came back to the park, after dark.
“When she came back and dropped these guys off at the same spot he felt that she was too intoxicated to safely drive home so she parked at a nearby park, and went to sleep in her car,” said Det. Onishi.
He said the woman woke up to the man next to her car touching himself. When she told him to stop, investigators say he got violent.
“She objected to that. He ended up dragging her out of the car in the bushes nearby and forced her, strangled her, and then left her taking her car,” Det. Onishi explained.
After the attack, people nearby saw the woman hurt and distraught. They called 911. Police say the suspect, known only as “Get Money”, stole the woman’s car and used her debit card the next day. He hasn’t touched it since. His car, a 2001 gold Toyota Rav-4 (WA plate # CGS5660) hasn’t been seen either.
Police said those dashcam images came from an interaction earlier on July 3, before the victim met up with the group. Renton PD said someone called them because that group was getting loud at Liberty Park. Police said at the time, the group wasn’t breaking any laws so police moved on.
“The fact that somebody’s willing to violently act in that fashion. Hurt somebody, take their stuff, and drive away, all of that’s alarming because if it can happen to her it can happen to anybody else as well,” said the Detective.
When asked why police waited a month to get the information out to the public, Detective Onishi said, “We’re at the point where putting out those pictures is our best avenue toward maybe closing this case.”
Police also said they haven’t been able to get in contact with that mutual friend between the victim and suspect. If you have any information on who Get Money is, contact Detective Billingsley at Lbillingsley@rentonwa.gov reference case 23-7583.