Manhunt continues in vicious Highland Park sex assault

HIGHLAND PARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- Investigators were back on the scene Tuesday of a vicious sexual assault in New Jersey that has left a normally peaceful town shaken to its core.

Officers searched a basement where they say a man beat and sexually assaulted a 36-year-old woman he pulled from the street at gunpoint.

The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, as the victim was walking on Harper Street in Highland Park.

The suspect fled afterwards, and police were alerted when a neighbor called 911 after the victim ran to his or her home following the attack.

The victim was taken to Robert Wood Johnson hospital in New Brunswick, where she remains in stable condition.

"It's something you would never expect to happen around here," neighbor Tom Peretti said.

The suspect is described as a black male in his early 20s, about 5-foot-7 with a medium build and short hair. He was wearing a red T-shirt, black jacket and gray sweatpants.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective McGraw of the Highland Park Police Department at 732-572-3800 or Detective Bitterman of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's office at 732-745-4401.

http://abc7ny.com/news/woman-beaten-sexually-assaulted-at-gunpoint-in-highland-park/1763907/