KIRO TV
February 28, 2014
“I thought he was going to kill me,” Marilyn Sirmans said as she described what it was like to get into her car and get attacked by a man hiding in the back seat. “The first thing is I’m dead”, said Sirmans. “He’s definitely going to rape me and kill me.”
Sirmans said on the night of Feb. 13, just before 10, the man asked her for a light as she walked into a Safeway supermarket at 72nd and Portland in south Tacoma. She gave him a light, then went into shop. Sirmans said while she was in the store the man entered her car through an unlocked door and hid in the back seat. He tried to attack her as she was driving away and heading home. “He jumped in between the seats, so the only thing I could do was I slammed on the brakes as hard as I could and threw him into the dashboard. It kind of stunned him,” Sirmans said. “I’m just screaming for him to get out. (I’ve) never been so scared.” Sirmans said leaving the car unlocked was a mistake, but added she’s always felt safe in the neighborhood where she grew up. “Bad mistake, big mistake,” she said.
Tacoma police are now asking for the public’s help to find the man whose image was captured by surveillance cameras inside the store. Here is his description from their news release: Suspect is described as a black male, 20-30 years, 6 feet tall with a slender build, black jacket with a hood, black skull cap or doo-rag, long gray shirt, black nylon sweat pants with a unique thin stripe, and white running shoes with either blue or green trim. He was wearing a watch on his right wrist and carrying a cigarette in his right hand.
The Tacoma Police Department needs help to identify this man. If you know who he is, please call 253-591-5968. If you see him, please use caution and call 911.