Police said the victim resisted and yelled while the suspect remained on his feet and hovered over her. At some point, a man walking a dog entered the area and the attacker ran.

Another assault in Circle C Park here in South Austin. Full story.

While there’s not much information in the story (it does include a description), what there is presents a few things we can learn. Granted, I can only base this off what’s in the story, there’s a lot of context missing, so take this for what it’s worth.

According to police, the victim ran from Escarpment Boulevard onto the jogging trail of the park at around 7:30 p.m. As the victim made her way to the basketball courts on the northwest end and toward a street that runs through the park, she saw a man hiding behind a bush. When she ran past the man, he pushed her down and proceeded to physically assault her.

While the time was in the evening, it was still “broad daylight”. Bad things can happen at any time of the day, not just in the dark of night.

She saw a man hiding behind a bush. Later in the article it described the man as “wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with black pants and a black baseball hat”. I can’t say if she saw what the man was wearing in detail enough to have anything register but… it’s like 100º+ and 110% humidity in Austin right now. Someone in long-sleeves, full pants, hat — and all black — is VERY out of place (not even Austin goths are dressed like that). Throw in “hiding behind a bush” and your alarm bells should be screaming. None of this appears normal; it’s all out of place. This is not someone I would want to continue past – I would do whatever I could to put as much distance between myself and that person as soon and rapidly as possible.

The attacker ran off when someone else came into the area. There is safety in numbers. Having a useful dog has benefits as well.

Most of all? She resisted. She yelled. She fought back. She refused to be a victim.

There’s the biggest lesson.