Anchorage police are looking for a man they say sexually assaulted one woman and tried to assault another in Muldoon early Monday, prompting a warning that residents in the area should lock their doors.
Anchorage police spokeswoman Anita Shell said an initial search for the suspect — described as a black man standing between 5 feet, 7 inches and 5 feet, 10 inches tall, wearing shorts but no shirt — was unsuccessful. The assaults, at two homes off Boundary Avenue near Muldoon Road, were reported about half an hour apart beginning just before 5 a.m.
Shell said the suspect attempted to sexually assault the woman at the first home, then sexually assaulted the woman at the second home. No items were taken from either residence during the break-ins.
"He broke into the house, got into an altercation with the individual inside (and) did not sexually assault her, but did (assault) the woman at the second home he broke into," Shell said.
A male resident of the second home chased the suspect off, police said.
Officers were still at the scenes of the break-ins and investigating the suspect's identity Monday afternoon, Shell said. Police did not have any word on a possible vehicle tied to the suspect or his direction of travel when he was last seen.
"It appears as though he was on foot," Shell said.
Police asked people in Muldoon to lock their doors during the initial search, but Shell said by the afternoon that residents should "make sure that when they're inside their homes to keep doors and windows shut, and report suspicious activity to police."
Anyone with information on the suspect or his whereabouts should contact Anchorage police at 907-786-8900.