LATEST: Witness to St. Johns County park attack: 'She had blood all over her face'
St. Johns County deputies are searching for an attacker who beat a woman at Julington Creek Plantation Park on Tuesday night.
The victim returned to the crime scene on Wednesday to walk investigators through what happened.
In an exclusive interview, she told Action News Jax she thinks her attacker was hiding around a corner and, when she walked out of the bathroom, he hit her repeatedly over the head.
She said the gash in her head is almost deep enough to reach her skull.
The victim called her attacker a “coward.”
“I mean, it was pretty bad. She was bleeding. Blood all over her face, all over her arms,” said a witness, who asked not to be identified out of fear for her safety.
The victim said she was at the park for flag football practice.
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She said she blacked out when a young white man in a black hoodie beat her over the head. When she came to, she said he was still hitting her and she started screaming for help.
The witness said she was walking her dog near the park bathrooms when she heard the screams.
“I heard the lady scream really loud and when I looked up, she was actually laying on the ground and the guy was running up the sidewalk right here,” said the witness.
St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office K9 handler Doug Kowieski said being loud and getting that passerby’s attention likely prevented this crime from escalating.
“Be loud and obnoxious. Thanks to her, she probably saved her life. That guy got spooked off because she was there,” said Kowieski.
The sheriff’s office spokesman said investigators are not sure if the woman was targeted or if this was a random attack, like the “knock out game.”
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A forensics team taped off the crime scene again on Wednesday to collect more evidence.
“There’s an evidence technician out here and they’ve re-roped off the area because they’ve obviously found something else that might be of value. Each marker that you see down there represents some form of evidence,” said Action News Jax Law and Safety expert Ken Jefferson.
The victim, witness and several children all complained to Action News Jax that the area of the park where the bathrooms are located gets very dark at night.
“They should definitely have a light on those back buildings. I know they may have surveillance cameras back there. But sometimes that’s not even enough. We need lights,” said the witness.
“In a dark area, especially with the way that these bathrooms are, you know, probably think about whether that’s a good idea to use it,” said Kowieski.
St. Johns County government spokesperson Michael Ryan said he is looking into whether there are plans to add more lighting to that part of the park.
In the meantime, the sheriff’s office is examining surveillance video to see if they can identify the attacker.