Published: July 06, 2008 09:47 pm         

Woman stabs alleged attacker

TERRE HAUTE — Police were searching for a suspect late Sunday after a reported attempted abduction of a woman in the Garden Quarter apartment complex in southern Vigo County.

The woman told the Tribune-Star that she noticed a blue Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible driving around the parking lot in front of her Garden Quarter apartment as she was walking to her car. The driver parked next to her vehicle when she got into her car, and she said he jumped in the back seat and tried to strangle her and use a Taser on her. She said she did not know her attacker.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Joe Watts said the suspect order the woman to leave the parking lot. The woman, an Iraq war veteran, said as she was leaving the lot she grabbed a knife she keeps by her front seat and stabbed the attacker in each hand as he grabbed at her throat. Her vehicle left the roadway, coming to rest about 150 south of Jessica Drive on the east side of Carlisle Steet. She said she also reached over the seat with the knife and stabbed him again before he fled in an undetermined direction.

According to police, the suspect is a white male in his mid- to late-20s, about 5-feet, 10-inches tall, weighing 190 to 210 pounds, with medium length brown hair and a goatee. He was wearing a red shirt and khaki shorts at the time of the incident. The suspect has stab wounds to both hands and one leg, authorities were reporting.

Police also indicated the suspect’s vehicle had a black convertible top and temporary license plates.

Other residents of the apartments said they had noticed him “hanging around” the pool area, according to the woman.

Anyone who has recently seen the suspect is urged to call police at (812) 232-3802, (812) 232-3801, (812) 232-1311 or (812) 299-1151.