Help ID sex assault suspect seen with dog, accused of preying on women in park

SEATTLE -

WANTED IN LAKEWOOD -- The search is on for a sexual deviant preying on people in a public park.

Lakewood Police say the man in the sketch above sexually assaulted two women at Fort Steilacoom Park on Wednesday, June 3rd and got spotted masturbating in the southwest corner of the park, near the Pierce College campus.

The victims described him as a white man in his 20's or 30's, about 5’7” to 5’8”, with a slender build and dark hair.

The victim said he had a medium-sized dog with him that looked like a Border Collie.

Detectives say the first victim was walking near the park's water towers, when the suspect approached her from behind and grabbed her backside and crotch area. But, the victim had a knife and used it to defend herself and the man ran away.

Another woman told police the suspect slapped her backside as she ran past him.

"What we are worried about, what is his intention? Obviously, there are a couple of assaults that we're looking for him for, but we want to make the public aware that if you are going to the park, be advised that this is happening. We're doing everything we can to stop it. You might want to be with somebody else and, of course, if there's anything that happens that's similar to this, we need to know as soon as possible. We want to know if there's other, unreported incidents out there too, that we don't know about at this point too, so we can catch this guy, we can make him responsible for all of them,” said Lakewood Police Lt. Chris Lawler.

If you know who the suspect is, Crime Stoppers of Tacoma-Pierce County is offering up to a $1,000 cash reward for information leading to his identity. Call 1-800-222-TIPS(8477), or use the P3 Tips app. It is anonymous.