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Surveillance Video Shows Highland Park Attacker Before Alleged Sex Assault

Police are hoping surveillance video showing a man following a woman before allegedly sexually assaulting her could lead to his arrest, officials said.

Los Angeles police officers were searching for a man who attacked a 24-year-old woman Thursday night on a street in Highland Park and tried to sexually assault her, authorities said.

Police said they have surveillance video from inside a nearby McDonald's that shows the woman talking to the man. When he buys a drink from the counter, she leaves.

Surveillance video shows the woman walking on the sidewalk, and moments later the attacker — a man in his 20s, wearing glasses and carrying a large cup — walking the same way as the woman.

The woman was walking near York Boulevard and Toledo Street around 6:30 p.m. when the man knocked her to the ground and tried to sexually assault her, said Sgt. Douglas Bowler of the LAPD.

The woman's family friend, who did not want to be identified, said the woman screamed for help and fought with everything she had.

She drew the attention of a group of neighbors who came out to stop the man. Witnesses said the man lifted his shirt and revealed a handgun in his waistband, which led the neighbors to back off, and the attacker ran away.

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Witnesses said the attacker punched the woman in the face repeatedly, and police are hoping to pull the suspect's DNA from the bloodied headphones she was wearing during the attack.

The woman's friend said the victim is still nervous, and she doesn't know why this happened to her.

The LAPD said they do not believe the suspect and the victim knew each other.

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