CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Charlottesville Police are looking for the public’s help identifying and locating a suspect in a reported sexual assault early Friday morning on the Downtown Mall.
CPD has posted an image on their website of a suspect after a woman walked into headquarters around 4 a.m. Friday and reported she had been sexually assaulted in the 100 block of 5th Street SE.
She was transported to UVA for evaluation.
Charlottesville Police detectives have identified the scene of the incident and recovered video from the area.
The suspect is described as a short, Hispanic male, with a medium build wearing all dark clothing and a brown knit cap. He was reported to be armed with a knife at the time of this incident.
Though police believe at this time this is a random act of violence, they said citizens can expect to see increased law enforcement presence around the location.
Police said anyone who can help identify the suspect or has surveillance cameras in the area of the Downtown Mall, Water St, or Market St and has not been contacted by CPD yet, to please reach out to Detective J. Houchens with CPD at (434) 970-3676 or contact Crime Stoppers at (434) 977-4000 to remain anonymous.
