Assault Leads to Manhunt in Germantown

An assault in the Central Business District of Germantown led to a man hunt including State Police helicopters and search dog teams on Wednesday night. Police are still looking for the assailants, in what appear to be a random act of violence by a group of individuals against a man sitting in his car.

According to Rebecca Innocenti, spokesperson for the Montgomery County Police Department at about 7:43 pm on January 25 police received a call about a possible attempted carjacking in the parking lot between the 7-Eleven store near the 19700 block of Crystal Rock Drive.

“Detectives determined that it was not a carjacking but an assault which had taken place,” said Innocenti.

According to Innocenti, the victim, a 20-year-old male, was sitting in his car in the parking lot when a group four or five individuals approached a vehicle and began attempting to open the doors of the car. One door was unlocked and the suspects entered the vehicle and one suspect began punching and beating the driver.

Innocenti said it does not appear that the victim knew the attackers and there is no clear motive for the assault.

The victim attempted to drive out of the parking lot and at that time the suspect fled the scene on foot. The victim’s vehicle was not stolen or carjacked. There were no reports of weapons involved and the victim was not robbed. The victim received minor injuries, however, Fire Rescue was not called to the scene.

According to Innocenti, “Because the initial call was for a carjacking, and preliminary investigations indicated it was a possible attempted carjacking so it is handled as such until, at some point it was determined to be a simple assault.” She said that police must act on the initial information.

As a result, Montgomery County Police, with the assistance of the State Police helicopter began searching for the suspects in the area. Search teams fanned out throughout the Crystal Rock Drive and Middlebrook Road area between Seneca Valley High School and Warring Station Road. K9 search dogs were summoned to assist in the search for the suspects.

However, none of the suspects have been apprehended. Captain David Gillespie, Commander of the 5th District in Germantown told Germantown Pulse this morning that his officers were continuing to look for the suspects and the investigation is on-going.

Anyone with any information regarding this incident is asked to call the 5th District Police Station at 240-773-6237.

File Photo by Germantown Pulse.