Woman falsely reported assault on Fremont street, police say

A 26-year-old Seattle woman lied when she claimed she was attacked by a man while jogging early Saturday in Fremont, according to Seattle police.

"It did not occur," police spokesman Mark Jamieson said of the assault the woman said took place around 1:50 a.m.

According to Jamieson, the woman met with detectives assigned to the department's Sexual Assault Unit on Tuesday and they determined the attack didn't happen.

Despite the woman's false claim, Jamieson said police will not seek to have the woman charged with a crime, such as filing a false police report.

In an interview Monday with The Seattle Times, the woman said she was about four blocks from her Fremont apartment when she saw a man across the street walking in the opposite direction. She said he immediately turned and started following her, and she looped around the block toward Aurora Avenue North to try to lose him.

As she got to the corner of North 42nd Street and Linden Avenue North, the woman said, the man attacked her from behind and slammed her to the sidewalk. He tried to pull her pants down and grabbed her left thigh, she said.

The woman said she screamed hysterically and elbowed the man in the face while he was on top of her. He slammed her head into the concrete, causing her to lose consciousness for a few seconds, she said.

She even gave a description of the man.

The woman did not immediately answer a phone message left for her on Tuesday afternoon.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com