ARANSAS PASS, Texas — Imagine walking home from the grocery store and being offered a ride from someone in a black car with tinted windows. You kindly refuse the offer, but by the time you know it, your hair is being pulled and you’re being scratched and almost kidnapped.
That’s exactly what happened to a woman in her late thirties in Aransas Pass on Monday night around 11 p.m. when she was walking down the 300 and 400 block of Greenwood Avenue. The Aransas Pass Police Department, which is actively looking into the situation, said it’s not a common occurrence in the neighborhood or the city.
“It does not happen often. We’ve had reports of it before. Every once in a while somebody will be walking along and somebody will try to pick them up and they get aggressive,” Sergeant Frank Kent said.
Kent said the man is tall, white, thin and blonde with a tattoo on the back of his right hand. At the time of the assault, he had on a sleeveless black shirt with a white logo on it.
“She did the right thing. She struck him with a purse and she ran away. Hopefully what we really encourage is the buddy system. Not to be out at these late hours walking alone,” Kent said.
Neighbors like Nick Johnson said he doesn’t hear of much crime happening in the neighborhood or in Aransas Pass.
“It’s pretty quiet. I mean, nothing like that ever really happens from time to time as far as I know,” Johnson said.
Other neighbors like Barbara Tibbitts, who has a flag business outside of her house near the site of the assault, said hearing about this situation on social media made her more on guard.
“I called my husband and I was like 'do you know where my taser might be?' Because it is scary and it’s scary if I have to walk over to the store or anything. It makes you want to look over your shoulder,” Tibbits said.
Situations like this one is exactly why the Ingelside Police Department hosts free self defense seminars four times a year. Ingleside Police Chief Tammi Burr said they teach people where to strike an assaulter.
“If it’s a male, I have to say, go for the groin because that’s the area it’s going to hit them worse. Go for the eyes. You have to take them out before they take you out,” Burr said.
The Aransas Pass Police Department is encouraging anyone with any information or video footage of the situation to come forward. They also have an anonymous tip line for people that don’t want to share their name. That number is (800)245-TIPS/8477.
