Women, Children Victims Of Mysterious Liquid Attacks

The Lakewood Police Department is investigating a number of cases in which a man has thrown unknown liquid on women and children.

In one attack on Sept. 1 at 8:55 p.m., police said two people were walking near the entrance of an apartment building in the 8300 block of 83rd Avenue Court Southwest when a man on a bicycle threw a cup of something slimy at one of them. The woman said she thought the liquid may have been spit but police said they do not know for sure what the substance was.

In another attack on Sept. 2, police said a woman was walking in front of the Lucky Mart in the 8600 block of Hipkins Avenue Southwest when a balloon hit her and exploded on her face. Investigators said she vomited as a result of the exposure. Police believe the balloon was filled with eggs but they do not know if there was anything else in the mixture.

Investigators said on Monday, there were three separate attacks. In the first at about 2:15 p.m., a woman was sitting at a desk in the recreation room of the Morning Tree Apartments in the 8100 block of 83rd Avenue Southwest when a man came in and asked her if she had seen a little black girl. When the woman looked up, the man threw the contents of a cup into her face. Authorities said the liquid was clear with brown chunks in it.

A few minutes later in the 7900 block of Onyx Court, two 12-year-old girls were walking when a man on a bicycle came up behind them and threw liquid on them. The liquid was blue, and the girls said they believe it was “porta potty” liquid.

At 4:35 p.m. Monday, a woman who lives in the Brighton Place Apartments in the 8600 block of 83rd Street said she was walking to Albertson’s and saw a man riding a bike behind the store. When she came out of the store, the man followed her on foot and then got on back on a bicycle then threw liquid on her, police said. The liquid was not identified.

Nobody has been seriously injured in these cases but police said they are extremely concerned about the man’s actions and fear he will continue to escalate the incidents until someone is seriously injured.

Police said they believe the culprit is the same person who on Aug. 30 rode up on a bicycle behind two women and pinched them in the buttocks before riding off.

The man is described as a black male in his late teens or early 20s. He wears a baseball cap and at times a red sweater or sweatshirt. In nearly every attack, he was seen on or near a black and silver bicycle.

Police said the assailant may be getting empty cups from fast food places then going to portable toilets and scooping up whatever he can reach to throw on people.

The incidents come after a Vancouver, Wash., woman was burned with acid when a stranger approached her and threw a cup of liquid in her face Aug. 30.