| 7/20/2009 6:28:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Park walker survives violent attack
Police say Beaver Lake is 'generally quiet'
Holly Wenzel
managing editor
It was a regular ritual for the 57-year-old woman to walk the pathway around Beaver Lake near her home; she'd lived in the neighborhood and taken the same route for years.
The morning of July 16, that peaceful routine was shattered.
The woman told police that around 9:30 a.m. she was walking in a wooded area in the northern end of Beaver Lake Park, on a dirt trail near the 2300 block of Maryland Avenue, when a man appeared and demanded money. He hit her "multiple times with an unknown blunt object" and took the only items of worth she was carrying: her house keys.
"She's a lifelong Maplewood resident and walks that park frequently, and she doesn't take a wallet or other valuables with her," Maplewood Lt. Mike Shortreed explained. "The only thing she was carrying were her house keys, in a pouch around her neck."
The woman was left with a broken arm, a possible broken leg, deep bruises and multiple other facial injuries, Shortreed said. She managed to get to Maryland Avenue, where residents summoned police and an ambulance picked her up.
Police found other park patrons who think they saw the man leaving the area; they described a man between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 6 inches tall wearing brown shorts and a brown shirt. He reportedly had olive-complexion skin and walked with a limp. Witnesses believe he may be of Hispanic descent.
The victim, based on the accent she heard when the man talked to her, said she thought he might be of Middle-Eastern descent, Shortreed said.
The attack follows a summer-long lull, after attention and concern were focused on a string of assault/robberies at Phalen Park last spring. "We're not seeing any connection" between the cases, Shortreed said.
Based on the level of violence the suspect wreaked on the woman, compared to the fact he didn't get anything of value - the locks on the victim's home have already been changed - Shortreed said police considered a possible racial motive in the assault. "We are trying to see if that might be the case, but right now we don't have any indication of that," he said. "And he did initially ask for money, so we're considering it a robbery."
Beaver Lake Park, tucked into the southern leg of the city, is generally a quiet location, Shortreed said. "Truth be told, this is the first incident of this kind we're aware of there," he said. "The violence incurred in this robbery/assault we have never seen in this area."
Shortreed reminds walkers and joggers not to travel parks alone if possible and to carry a cell phone whether alone or with others.
"Be very alert and cognizant of your surroundings," he recommended. "If you're heading into a secluded area, you don't know what threats lie ahead."
The case remains under investigation.
Holly Wenzel can be reached at review@lillienews.com or at 651-748-7811.
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