Woman assaulted while jogging on popular Gig Harbor trail

GIG HARBOR, Wash. – Police in the South Sound are on the hunt for a man who assaulted a jogger early Sunday morning.

It happened in Gig Harbor hear Foster Street where it crosses Cushman Trail.

“Gig Harbor, in general, is a very safe place and our recreational trail has been a very safe place,” said Police Chief Kelly Busey. “Very few incidents like this at all, so this is an unusual event.”

Police say the victim was running when a man came out of the bushes and groped her.

“She thought it was another runner just overtaking her, but it was a man that came up from behind her and grabbed her, briefly fondled her,” said Busey. “She yelled for some help and the man released her.”

Police searched but he got away. Working with the victim police developed a sketch that describes the assailant as a white man in his early thirties, about six feet tall with an average build, wearing a light-grey hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, and two-toned athletic shoes.

For now, police are urging everyone on the trail to only do so in groups or pairs and always bring a cellphone.

“We would ask them to try to adjust their running hours and be out in daylight if possible,” added Busey.

Investigators are asking anyone who may have seen the assault or recognizes the man in the sketch to call the police.