#09-22-2021

Kent Police and Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound are asking for the public’s help to identify a suspect who violently attacked a 70-year-old woman.

Detectives say the suspect walked into a bookstore on 1st Avenue S. in downtown Kent on Sept. 22 around 2 p.m. After milling around for a moment, surveillance video shows him going behind the counter and chasing the clerk around to the front.

He then started kicking her in the head and chest, punching her in the face and body and is seen groping her several times. As the woman fought back, she bit him on the face, so he could have bite marks.

The man never said anything and didn’t rob her. After the assault, he stumbled out of the store and headed north towards Kaibara Park or the Burlington Northern train tracks.

Police describe the suspect as Hispanic, possibly in his 20s, with medium height and medium build. He has a mustache and a small amount of hair on his chin.