Real Estate Agent Attacked In Edmonds

Real Estate Agent Attacked In Edmonds

By Tracy Vedder

EDMONDS - It's the kind of story that gives real estate agents nightmares: They're alone, holding an open house when a stranger attacks. It happened this weekend in Edmonds and the alert is going out to real estate agents around the region.

Police are on the lookout for the suspect. They are anxious to catch him and they want the public's help. They believe the man has attacked before and they're convinced, if he's not stopped, he'll attack again.

"It's really kind of scary when it's four, four doors down," says neighbor Kerilee Bennett.

Four doors down is a nice middle class home in a pleasant Edmonds neighborhood. But the For Sale sign out front and the open house sign down the block made a target of the real estate agent inside.

"The suspect in this waited until she was the only one in the house," says Edmonds Police Sgt. Mark Marsh. He adds that, suspiciously the man, "left when somebody else came in, and then immediately came back."

The real estate agent says the man kept trying to get her to show him remote parts of the home, such as the basement and back rooms. And when she wouldn't, he made his move anyway.

"And at one point the suspect came up her," says Sgt. Marsh, "put his arm around her to reach around her and grabbed her breast and she pushed him away."

When the man reached for her again, the agent screamed and the suspect then left.

Bennett is worried about her neighborhood, which is filled with kids. She always locks her doors and watches for people who don't belong. She also worries about real estate agents who are friends.

"It's just, that's just scary for them because a lot of them are all alone in that house all day long when they have those open houses," she said.

Police say the man was so confident and composed, they're convinced he's targeted agents at open houses before. And with the summer real estate season well under way, they're concerned he'll strike again.

"He's gonna keep going," warns Sgt. Marsh. "They'll either be more attacks, maybe progressively worse, that's the worst-case scenario but we want to get on this as quickly as possible."

Police are looking for a white man, 35 to 40 years old. He stands about 6 feet tall and is somewhat slender build at about 180 pounds. He has very short sandy hair that's thinning on top and wears wire rim glasses.

He was also wearing white socks with dark pants and dark shoes. Police was anyone who may have information about this case, particularly real estate agents who may have encountered this man before, to please contact either the Edmonds Police, or just call 911.

And they warn agents, if they must have open houses by themselves, keep a cell phone handy and have it pre-programmed for 911 so you can quickly call for help.

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