BURLINGTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Burlington police are investigating after residents found a woman naked and bleeding in the middle of the street who said she had been sexually assaulted Thursday afternoon.
Officers were called to the intersection of Peach Orchard Road and Arborwood Drive around 4:30 p.m. and the woman stated she had been sexually assaulted on the side of the road near the Mill Pond Reservoir.
“She kind of just like popped out of the bushes,” 11-year-old Adam Rader said he was walking down the street with a friend when the naked woman ran over to them.
“She was like running up to him, like trying to like take his spare shorts to put on her. And I gave her a towel,” he said. “And she kind of like took the spare clothes and everything. And she was trying to come home with me.”
Several people stopped to help the woman before officers arrived and brought her into a passerby’s car.
“I asked her what happened to her. And she said she got raped. Asked her if she knew the guy and could she explain what the guy looked like. And she kept trying to cover her face. She really didn’t want to say anything. She looked traumatized.” said Adam’s mother Savon.
The witnesses who found her told police they saw someone fleeing the area on foot.
Several state and local law enforcement agencies assisted in the search for a suspect until about 7:30 p.m. when the area was cleared.
No evidence of an assault was found.
The victim has been taken to a hospital for an evaluation. Police said they have determined there is no threat to the public at this time.
“Following an intensive search of the wooded area the Burlington Police Department is confident that the public is at no risk,” said Chief Michael Kent. “I want to thank all of the officers who participated in the search by foot, as well as the helicopter unit that was able to assist.”
The incident remains under investigation.
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