It happened on December 6 after the female victim got off work at Baybrook Mall and was walking to her vehicle in the parking lot. Police say she was seated inside and texting a friend when a man drove up to her vehicle.
The man began waving at her, using the light from his cell phone to get her attention. The woman thought the male needed help and opened her car door.
"That's when the individual approached her and she thought he had a weapon, had his hand inside his pocket," said Shawn Volenta with the HPD Special Crimes Unit.
The 24-year-old victim then was forced into the back seat of his car, a tan- or cream-colored compact sedan.
"Forced her down onto the floorboard and made her look down and not look up," Volenta said.
After a few minutes, he stopped the car and the assault followed. After that, the woman was returned to a parking lot near the mall and released.
The suspect is described only as a Hispanic or Middle Eastern male in his early 20s, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 180 pounds. The male was wearing a gage earring, about the size of a quarter, in each ear.
"Those stuck out in her mind when she saw the individual when he approached her," Volenta said.
The victim also remembers the suspect has a distinctive voice.
"Said it wasn't a very masculine type of voice -- more of a high-pitched voice like a female's type voice," Volenta said.
Anyone with information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Special Crimes Division at 713-308-1100 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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