Police are searching for a man who a woman said sexually assaulted her early Friday morning near the University of Washington campus, the Seattle Police Department said.

The woman said she was walking around north on 16^th Avenue near Northeast 52^nd Street around 2 a.m. when a man passed her on the sidewalk, police said. He grabbed her, threw her to the ground and sexually assaulted her.

"It doesn't matter where you are, there are always going to be people that are horrible, and they're going to do horrible things," U-District resident Lucinda Roanoke said. "It sucks that it was in my neighborhood."

The attack happened eight blocks from an incident in March, in which police said a convicted rapist broke into a home and held six women at knifepoint.

"I always knew there were people probably living in this district, in fairly good numbers, who were sexual predators," resident Marta Franzen said.

KIRO 7 took a look at the number of registered sex offenders in the 98105 ZIP code where Friday's attack happened. A state database showed 22 sex offenders are registered there, compared to half as many in the neighboring 98115 ZIP code, but still less than in the 98107 ZIP code on the other side of Interstate 5.

"There are rooming houses, there are places where people like that can afford to live," Franzen said.

Police declined to answer questions about other sexually motivated attacks in the area, but said they're investigating the latest incident.

The victim in the attack described the man to police as white, 6 feet 3 inches tall and about 21-22 years old with short, dark hair and stubble. He was wearing a purple Washington hoodie and blue jeans.

Anyone with any information about the man or the attack is asked to call 911 or the Seattle police sexual assault unit at 206-684-5575.