VALDOSTA — A Valdosta woman was robbed at knife point by an assailant, then sexually assaulted her as she walked from her car to work early Thursday morning.

Thursday morning about 6:15, Valdosta Police report a female victim who works downtown parked her car in the Lowndes County Tag Office parking lot and began to walk to work.

She stated she was approached by a male who grabbed her, held her at knife point and demanded money. She turned over what she had to him, then, sexually assualted the victim before fleeing.

The offender is described by Police as an African American Male, 5’4 to 5’7 inches tall, slim build, between 20-30 years of age, wearing khaki pants, a gray sweatshirt with some black color, and a large coat.

The Valdosta Police Persons Crime Unit has been working overtime on this case and are asking the community for help through providing tips. The police department has recovered evidence in this case which has been sent to the Valdosta/Lowndes Regional Crime Laboratory and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations Crime Laboratory.

“At this point, there is no evidence to lead detectives to believe the offender was a homeless person”, stated Chief Brian Childress.

“Over the past several years, the city and police department have made improvements for safety in the downtown area. We have improved lighting, extra patrols in the area, citing a troublesome club which eventually closed, moving a homeless camp and legally relocating those people in a humane way, and adding cameras in the downtown area. In fact, over the past few weeks the city has initiated adding three more live-feed cameras in the down town area, two of which will be in Bennie’s Ally. There are currently three live-feed cameras in the downtown Valdosta area”, stated Chief Brian Childress.

If anyone has any information regarding this incident, they are asked to call the Persons Crime Unit at 229-293-3145, or an anonymous tip can be left by calling 229-293-3091.