Woman sexually assaulted at bus stop

11:57 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 9, 2005

By Amy Tortolani / 11 News

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It's about the last thing you would expect to happen, but a woman was sexually assaulted just as she got off of a Metro bus Sunday night.

The attack took place at a bus stop at the intersection of West Little York and West Montgomery.

KHOU-TV

A woman leans against the bench as she talks to a fellow Metro passenger.

Every night hundreds, if not thousands of women, end their work days by getting off a Metro bus.

Lorena Robertson is scared to come to the bus stop because seconds after the bus doors closed last night, the woman at the Acres Homes transit center was attacked. "I am scared to come in the daytime considering what happened at night," says the bus rider.

"You really don't know who is the next victim," says Mona Smith.

Houston police say the rape happened at about 10:30 p.m. They say the suspect asked the 26-year-old woman what time the next bus was coming. When she tried to answer, he put a gun to her back.

Even though another bus came by at about that time, the man reportedly threatened to kill the woman if she tried to get help.

He then sexually assaulted her on a bus bench and ran away with her ID and cell phone.

After Runnels learned what happened Sunday night, she said some women may want to stop riding the bus alone or even at night.

"I think it's awful," says rider Doris Runnels.

Not everyone can do that, however, and Runnels says she's left with only one option. "Makes you want to carry a gun to want to fight back," she says.

Metro says you can legally carry a gun on a bus if you have a concealed weapons permit for it.

Police say the suspect is about 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet 3 inches and weighs about 160 pounds.

If you have any information about the attack or were on the bus with the woman, please contact HPD.