Woman, 23, attacked walking through park in Sydney’s southwest

A woman, 23, was assaulted walking through a small, dimly lit reserve in Mount Lewis earlier this week. Detectives are door-knocking the area as part of a manhunt to find the attacker.

The small Mount Lewis reserve where a 23-year-old woman was indecently assaulted this week. Picture: Jonathan Ng

DETECTIVES were last night knocking on doors in the hunt for a man who indecently assaulted a woman in a small, dimly lit reserve area in Sydney’s southwest earlier this week.

The 23-year-old woman was cutting through the reserve area at the junction of Frank St, Sealy St and Harold St, Mount Lewis, about 6pm on Tuesday, when a man grabbed her arm from behind and indecently assaulted her.

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The terrified woman broke free of the unknown man’s hold but before she should escape he picked up a stick and beat her with it, striking her in the arm and leg.

The attacker then shoved her to the ground and fled the area, and was last seen running towards Harold St.

Locals were shocked the highly visible park was the scene of an attack.

Emergency services were notified and the woman was taken to Fairfield Hospital for treatment before being discharged a shortly afterwards.

Officers from the Bankstown Police Area Command attended the scene are investigating the incident.

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Shocked neighbours said the small reserve is a highly visible area because it’s at the meeting point of Sealy St, Harold St and Frank St — which are all busy roads.

The reserve is only about 30m long and is on an incline from Harold St down to the junction of Sealy St and Frank St.

A visible goat track has been worn away through the middle of the reserve area, suggesting it is a popular shortcut for locals.

Local residents said a storm forced them inside at the time of the attack.

What makes the attack especially brazen is how densely populated the area is, with houses surrounded the area and many having a view over the area where the woman was grabbed.

However the reserve is dimly lit, with a single streetlight at the bottom of the hill facing away from the grassy section, and is dark by 5pm at this time of year.

A neighbour who’s house backs onto the park said police had been to his house to check his video footage from the night of the attack but had come away empty-handed.

“Cops came to check our CCTV but our cameras don’t reach that far,” he said.

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“When we checked the cameras you could see it was pouring rain at the time so I’m really surprised anyone was out in it to be honest.”

Another neighbour said it was ironic he and his wife had missed the incident because they were normally on their balcony from 4pm until 7pm but on that particular night it had been too cold.

“It was just before the storm hit so we went inside,” he said.

“My wife did see a thick man in a dark hoodie walking slowly along our grass at around that time — but we don’t have anymore information than that.”

Only one streetlight covers the park, and faces away from it’s sloped centre.

Detectives doorknocked the surrounding houses about 5pm tonight as they continued their appeal for witnesses of the event or CCTV vision.

Police described the attacker as a male in his 30s, of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern in appearance and about 183cm tall with a solid build.

He was wearing a dark-coloured hoodie and work boots.

Anyone with information should contact Bankstown Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.