Police say suspect still at large
By Jenine Clancy, Special Writer
"I would hope that whoever has done this show’s up somewhere before he commits (another crime)or injures someone more seriously," said the victim of an assault and robbery that happened in Monroe on June 12.
The victim, who wished not to be named, said she is still concerned for her safety.
On June 12, at 12:20 p.m., the Monroe Township Police Department responded to a residence on 13th Street to a report of female resident being attacked by an unknown male subject, police said in a press release.
"I went outside to get our mail and I usually take our dog that we are trying to train off leash for search and rescue," she said "And as I came off our steps and made it to driveway the suspect jumped out on me and my dog."
According to police, the victim was approached by an unknown male who brandished what appeared to be a knife and told the victim to give her everything she had.
"I said a few choice curse words and held my dog because he did have a knife," she said. "He was trying to stab me and my dog so I was trying to knock out it of his hand."
She said she was fearful of not only the attacker hurting her, but also of hurting her dog.
" I did not want to get her hurt and or die," she said of her dog.
The victim said she was grabbing and pushing the man when she was hit in the head with the back of the assailant’s knife, causing her dog to get loose.
She said the dog then bit the attacker in the groin area, and that’s when he fled into the woods, and according to police, ran towards the Helmetta and Spotswood area.
"Our dog came to my aid as I protected her, she protected me, and came to help me," she said.
She said she suffered cuts on her forearm from the knife and a lot of bruises and scratches during the altercation with the suspect.
As a precaution, the Monroe Township EMS transported the visibly upset victim to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
"I went to Emergency Room was there for about three and a half hours I am told. I had a lot of dizziness and felt horrible from the struggle," she said.
She said it seems her hand is fractured and headaches have been increasing and she is still seeing doctors.
The Monroe Township Police with the assistance of the Spotswood Police Department, the Helmetta Police Department, the New Jersey State Police K-9 unit and the Monmouth County Sheriff’s K-9 unit searched the area but were not able to find the man, police said.
"I hope that all of the law enforcement communities bond together and work to get this suspect," she said, and added her husband is a police officer in Middlesex County.
"Law Enforcement Families stick together," she said.
Police described the suspect as being possibly a white or Hispanic male in his 20s, wearing a red baseball cap with possible dreadlocks coming out the side, red shirt and blue jeans.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Monroe Township Police Department at 732-521-0222.

