Update: Police Release Details on Reported Sexual Assault in Westfield

Westfield police released additional details about the kidnapping and sexual assault that reportedly took place near Gumbert Park in the early morning hours Monday. 

At a press conference Tuesday evening, Police Chief John Parizeau said that at about 4 a.m. Monday, a 20-year-old Cranford resident was walking along South Chestnut Street toward North Avenue when a white male – apparently between the ages of 35 and 40 – began to walk behind and follow her. The woman told police that as she approached Gumbert Park, a white minivan pulled to the side of the road, and the white male grabbed her arm and forced her into the van.

Inside the van, the white male and a black male – whom the victim described as the driver and about 50-years-old – reportedly held the victim at knifepoint, Parizeau said. They then forcibly tried remove her clothing and had "criminal sexual contact" with the victim, Parizeau said.

He declined to indicate what type of sexual assault occurred, but noted that no rape test had been administered. The victim told police that the assailants also stole two credit cards and $450 in cash.

Following the theft, the victim managed to escape the minivan, which had not moved throughout the incident, Parizeau said. The two men reportedly fled after she exited the vehicle.

Parizeau said the victim immediately used her cell phone to call her father, who then picked her up from the scene and drove her to police headquarters. Parizeau said police officers followed the department's sexual assault protocols and gave the victim the chance to speak to county rape crisis volunteers, which he said the victim declined to do.

The victim told police that she did not recognize either of the men in the van, police Captain David Wayman said in a previous interview with Patch. During the press conference Tuesday, Parizeau said that the victim described the van as being manufactured between 2000 and 2005, but said she was unable to identify the make or model of the vehicle. 

Parizeau said he could not remember the last time an assault and sex crime of this level occurred in Westfield. He said that several years ago, a woman coming off a bus near Gumbert Park along North Avenue was robbed and beaten for her purse several years ago. Most of the sex crimes reported in recent years, he said, have been cases of date rape. The victims declined to press charges in several of those cases, Parizeau said.

The last kidnapping case in Westfield occurred in July 2009, when a group of teenagers, including an honors student, ambushed, tasered, kidnapped and assaulted another teenager in town, with the victim being returned home. The case resulted in several arrests and guilty pleas.

Parizeau said it is likely a coincidence that this case was reported within a month of two child luring cases that were reported in Westfield, one by Wilson Elementary School and another by Franklin Elementary School. An arrest was made in connection with the report near Wilson.

Stay tuned to Patch as this story develops.