2 more women attacked in Bergen County

BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. (WABC) -- Two more women have been attacked in a string of sexual assaults on North Jersey streets, police say. Within the last 10 months, there have been nine other attacks in Englewood and Hackensack. In previous assaults, police say the women were grabbed from behind by a man who sexually assaulted them or tried to do so. Some of the women were let go when they screamed or bit their attacker.

Police say one of the recent incidents happened at Decatur and West Forest avenues in Englewood at about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. According to police, a motorist saw a male who looked to be in his 20s trying to push a woman down. Another driver was already at the scene and apparently was trying to help the woman, according to the witness. That victim hasn't come forward.

In the second incident, on Tuesday morning, police say a woman in her 50s was grabbed and pushed to the ground by a male at the intersection of Glenwood and Crescent avenues in Leonia. The woman told police her attacker grabbed her hands and tried to pull down her sweatpants.

Police and the Bergen County prosecutor's office have beefed up patrols in the area, and are considering widening the surveillance zone.

"We've increased our patrols in the initial areas, now we have to redirect and re-concentrate," Englewood Lt. Lawrence Suffern told NorthJersey.com. "It's not just confined to one area or one time, so it's diligence all over."

Police are urging victims to come forward, especially since the most recent attacks were first reported by witnesses, not the women.

"She didn't come forward until 24 hours later," Leonia Police St. Scott Tamagny told NorthJersey.com. "Things could have been different if we were on the scene right away."

Leonia police are looking to see if the latest attack is related to the others, Tamagny told NorthJersey.com. The man in the Leonia assault is described by the victim as a light-skinned African-American in his 20s dressed in black and wearing a hat or a ski mask.

Police are suggesting residents in the areas where the attacks occurred to carry a cell phone programmed with the number of the local police department.

Anyone with information can call Leonia police at 201-944-0800, and Englewood police at 201-568-4875 or 201-568-2700.

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