HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. — Police in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, are searching for a man who attacked a fast food worker while she was taking out the trash.
It happened October 17th behind the Sonic on North Sebastian Street, and the suspect is still on the run.
It was a violent attack, which is why police are especially anxious to find the woman’s attacker before he strikes again.
Pat Thomas is the district manager for Rent-A-Center in Helena-West Helena.
Her store is in the row of shops close to the Sonic drive-in where the worker was attacked.
“That part just really, really bothers me. That somebody could actually do that. Physically attacking you, right there at work,” Thomas said.
Until we told her about it, Thomas hadn’t heard a thing about a worker at the Sonic being attacked while taking out the trash.
“Well, the fact that she’s just, the common thing of going to the dumpster to take out trash, that’s something you’d do and think nothing of,” Thomas said.
North Sebastian Street is lined with fast-food restaurants and a variety of other businesses, but all the hustle and bustle didn’t stop a man from attacking the 39-year-old Sonic employee.
Police said the woman was knocked to the pavement by a man who pinned her down from behind.
She was taking the trash out when the attack happened near the dumpster.
She screamed and fought until her attacker fled north from the back of the Sonic and into a field.
Police were hoping to make an arrest after their K-9 officer Koda picked up the suspect’s scent.
“We tracked him from the business to a fence line, to a gated apartment complex,” Police Chief Uless Wallace said.
But Chief Wallace said the attacker gave Koda the slip and is still on the loose.
That’s a big concern to Chief Wallace, who said the man’s brazen attack makes him a threat to other innocent people.
“If he does it once, he’ll probably get comfortable and think he can do it again,” Chief Wallace said.
That also worries Thomas, who said the safety of her employees and customers is top priority.
“My other co-workers are working late and sometimes not always in great number. So, the fact that somebody would actually be hiding out and could actually jump you,” she said.
The employee was not seriously hurt.
We spoke with someone in Sonic’s Corporate offices in Oklahoma City, who said they are looking into the matter, but were not ready to comment.
Helena-West Helena Police would like your help in catching the man responsible for attacking the Sonic employee. If you have any information, call 870-572-2528.