Witness says running toward woman's screams scared off Memorial Park attacker

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A warning to anyone who jogs alone: police confirmed that someone assaulted a woman while she was running at Memorial Park.

The Houston Police Department said the attack happened at about 5 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, in the 6500 block of Memorial Drive.

The runner was physically assaulted and admitted to the hospital, officials said.

According to police, a man in his 20s approached her and reportedly began physically assaulting the woman, dragging her off the trail.

"About 2.2 miles in, I started to hear screams and just instinctively started to run quicker towards the screams. I knew something was wrong, but at that point, I didn't know what it was," a witness who wanted to remain anonymous said.

According to the witness, her running up to them scared the man off.

"He said, 'She killed my brother. He ran over my brother,' and that was the moment he turned back toward me and then continued to run off," the witness said.

HPD said the victim did not know the man and had no idea what he was talking about.

The man managed to run off after the attack and, at last check, no arrests had been made.

Fortunately, the victim walked away with her life because of the witness.

Most would call her actions heroic, but she downplayed it to an act of empathy. She said it very easily could've been her taking the punches.

"I would hope that someone would come to my aid in some way, and I really didn't do much other than I went towards the distress calls to make sure that person was OK," the witness said.

The importance of making noise in a situation like that came front and center for the witness.

She said she had since purchased a personal safety alarm after the encounter.

Her advice to outside joggers everywhere is to run with a buddy, stay vigilant, and avoid wearing headphones.

"It makes me sad and angry that we have to think about those things, but it's the reality we live in, and it can happen anywhere," the witness said.

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