Vermont

Vt. Woman Attacked With Snowshoe in ‘Horrific and Senseless Act of Violence'

Burlington police are asking for the public's help identifying the suspect

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The victim of an unprovoked attack in the heart of Vermont's largest city is asking community members to come forward if they have information that could help police make an arrest.

"I want him behind bars," Stacy Scribner said of the unidentified man. "He broke my nose!"

Surveillance video released by the Burlington Police Department shows a man hitting Scribner in the face twice Wednesday morning while she was sitting on the ground off Cherry Street.

The man used an aluminum snowshoe as a weapon, investigators said.

The attack appeared random and unprovoked, Burlington police told reporters.

Scribner remembers the man asking if she'd give him one of her cigarettes, she said in an interview Thursday in Winooski.

"And I said, 'No,'" Scribner recalled of the request for the cigarette. "Then he came out of the blue and hit me."

The snowshoe had metal cleats on its underside, investigators noted.

Scribner said she needed stitches and will have to go back to a doctor to have her broken nose fixed.

"All over a stinkin' cigarette -- and I get slammed," she lamented.

Burlington police described the suspect as a Black male, approximately 25-35 years old and standing roughly 5'10" or 5'11". They said he had a medium build and a well-kept beard. He was last seen barefoot and in a white hoodie and dark blue basketball shorts with a black stripe, police added.

BPD is asking the community to take a close look at a still image it distributed of the suspect, and to come forward with any information that could help them make an arrest.

Handout

"We have no idea who this individual is," Deputy Chief Matt Sullivan said. "We need the public's assistance in identifying him to hold him accountable for this horrific and senseless act of violence."

Anyone with information about the attack is asked to contact the Burlington Police Department at 802-658-2704.

The random nature of the attack left some folks in the area of the bus terminal, between Burlington's iconic Church Street Marketplace and its temporary high school, feeling uneasy.

"Knowing that it happened right here, I feel like everybody's public safety is almost in danger," said Taylor Rich, who was walking past the area of the attack on Cherry Street Thursday.

Scribner said she was grateful for any tips from the public, hoping her attacker will be found.

"[I hope] that he gets caught, gets arrested -- brought to justice," Scribner said.

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