Posted at: 09/18/2012 10:49 PM
By: Dietrich Nissen

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Residents Meet With Police After Sex Assault

(ABC 6 News) -- On Tuesday night a Rochester neighborhood is pulling together after police warn a sexual predator may be on the prowl. Kutzky Park residents met with police less than a week after a woman was attacked near 12th Avenue and Center Street.

Everyone at the meeting had questions. Some asked, “How do I protect myself? What's being done? Should we fight this person?”

Police answered each one calmly but the questions kept coming for more than an hour.    

Concern for residents started four months ago with the first attack. Since then there's been three others, the most recent last Thursday. Police say a woman was sexually assaulted in her home. They're now telling residents to lock their doors and windows, even buy motion lights.

"It's concerning because it could happen to any body's neighborhood and it's not to say that he's going to stay in our neighborhood. He could go into some else's neighborhood," says Kutzky Park Neighborhood Association, Susan Todzy.

"I consider it to be my neighborhood, ya know, a sense of ownership, and um I want to go after him probably more than the police officers do," says another resident, Ben Hickox.

The suspect's description connects the cases. Police says he's a light-skinned black man, five six to five ten in height, between 20 to 30 years old, and with an average or athletic build.

Police are also looking for an older burgundy colored mini-van with wood grained sides that may have a connection to this case.

At the moment, investigators don't have anyone in mind but they're checking fingerprints and DNA. However, police say they really need the public's help.