Two women assaulted in Cobbs Creek Golf Course

Philadelphia police are searching for a man they say pounced on and sexually assaulted two women who had been walking through Cobbs Creek Golf Course.

The first attack was on July 11, around 3:30 a.m., near the 7500 block of Lansdowne Avenue, police said Thursday. A 26-year-old woman was walking through the course on her way to work when a man grabbed her and sexually assaulted her.

The walking paths through the course are popular shortcuts for many in the Cobbs Creek area, police said. The woman who was attacked had been on her way to the 69th Street Transportation Center and told police she often took the shortcut.

The second attack happened last Friday around 8 p.m. A 39-year-old woman was walking through the golf course when a man walked up to her and began to pull at her clothing. As the woman struggled to get away, the man punched her in the face, knocking her out, police said.

When she regained consciousness, the man was sexually assaulting her, police said.

Police said the incidents' proximity - within about 200 feet of each other - and similarity have led them to believe the attacks were committed by the same man.

They described the attacker as a clean-shaven Hispanic man in his mid-30s, about 5-foot-5, with a muscular build.

Capt. John Darby of the Special Victims Unit advised residents in the area to "be aware of your surroundings" and travel in pairs.

He said both women described the man as appearing without warning and "pouncing."

The man never spoke to either of the women, he said.

Darby said detectives were searching the course in golf carts and on foot for evidence, and scouring businesses in the area for surveillance footage. Bulletins on the attacks have also been posted in the neighborhood.

Anyone with any information on the case is asked to call the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3252.