Deputies are searching for a man they say attacked a woman, sexually assaulting her in a wash near 96th Street and Broadway Tuesday.
Officers said around noon, the woman was walking through the wash that backs up to several homes when a man approached her.
She claims he had a gun and attacked.
Deputies describe the suspect as a white male in his 20s to 30s, wearing a black shirt. They said he has a tattoo on his right forearm, and was carrying a black handgun.
Deputies flooded the area and set up a perimeter. They used dogs and a helicopter, but did not locate the suspect.
"We are going to talk to whoever we can talk to to get as much information as we can, we are going to continue talking with her and get a sketch perhaps, and go from there," Maricopa County Sheriff Department Sgt. Brandon Jones said. "We are asking for the public's help on this to locate that gentleman."
The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
k33j88 posted at 5:53 am on Wed, Sep 19, 2012.
Tell me again, you anti-gun zealots, why guns (for self-defense purposes)should only be in the hands of cops and the military.
Heywood_Jablome posted at 6:47 am on Wed, Sep 19, 2012.
This story sounds suspicious. Broad daylight in a residential area? Hmmmmm....
Bingo6 posted at 11:26 am on Wed, Sep 19, 2012.
Not to surprised this neighborhood is one of Mesas premier drug and crime ridden zones in Arizona.
VofReason posted at 1:22 pm on Wed, Sep 19, 2012.
Odd that Apache Junction is one of Mesa's high crime zones. This would have made for a much better story if it ended Woman shoots attacker in AJ wash joint. Helps town put losers in AJ on notice.
MrsKinAJ posted at 2:03 pm on Wed, Sep 19, 2012.
96th Street & Broaday is NOT Apache Junction.
anod12 posted at 2:51 pm on Wed, Sep 19, 2012.
I'm beginning to think that the Trib has no idea where anything is. This didn't happen in Apache Junction. It happened in Mesa. I guess it's just another reason to badmouth AJ.
xmot posted at 4:30 pm on Thu, Sep 20, 2012.
This is a rough area. Lots of homeless people on their stolen bikes, panhandling, drugs, theft. They are encouraged to come to the area by the local churches. I think they should take them to their own neighborhoods.
soricobob posted at 5:55 am on Sun, Sep 23, 2012.
It would have been very nice to have had the police contact the schools in the area! Since I work at a local High School (whose kids walk through wash's) I would have thought the police would want us to know about such an incident. I read about it in this paper, and saw it on TV, but they still haven't notified us!