By Brian Kelly
Herald Writer
OAK HARBOR — Police are searching for a man who broke into a woman’s home, bound and gagged the woman, but ran off just after midnight on Tuesday morning.
The 25-year-old single mother was home alone with her two children, who were asleep in a nearby bedroom, at the time of the attack, said Jan Smith, spokeswoman for the Island County Sheriff’s Office. The duplex, located next to a mobile home park in the 1000 block of Haga Road, is just south of the Oak Harbor city limits.
Detectives are sharing information on the case with Oak Harbor investigators because of a reported rape in Oak Harbor 10 days ago.
The woman may have been waiting for a girlfriend to come over and answered a knock at her door just before midnight, Smith said.
The woman told deputies that when she opened the door, the man pushed her back inside, gagged her and bound her mouth and hands. He put her on the floor, partially disrobed her, and rubbed a knife along her neck, threatening to hurt her if she made any noise, Smith said.
Smith said the woman was not sexually assaulted, and the suspect got up and left shortly after forcing his way into the duplex.
The woman then knocked the receiver off the telephone and was able to punch in 911. A dispatcher heard the woman’s muffled crying, and at some point the woman’s 4-year-old daughter came out of the bedroom, picked up the phone and talked to the dispatcher.
The man was described as being between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall, slender with broad shoulders, having ear-length black hair, brown eyes and a medium complexion, and in his late 20s. The man also had some type of mark on the left side of his neck, a birthmark or a tattoo, and an involuntary twitch on the outer side of his right eye.
Sheriff’s deputies searched the area early Tuesday, and Oak Harbor police used a canine unit to try to find the suspect. Police continued to canvass the area throughout the day with no success.
You can call Herald Writer Brian Kelly at 425-339-3422 or send e-mail to kelly@heraldnet.com.
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