Assault victim recovering, memory not clear

By Kathryn Reed

The South Lake Tahoe woman who was beaten by an unknown assailant continues to recover from her injuries.

The victim, who is in her 30s and whose name is not being published, was hit in the head several times, sustained defensive wounds and a severe concussion.

El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies were called to Barton Memorial Hospital on Oct. 8 because the woman told hospital staff she had been assaulted near Meyers. Upon further questioning by deputies the woman said it was closer to Woodfords where a man posing as a cop pulled her over and assaulted her. That is when the investigation was turned over to Alpine County Sheriff’s Department.

Now both departments are handling the investigation.

As is common with a trauma like this, the brain can become scattered and memories jumbled. It is normal with head injuries for the sequence of events to be remembered in a random manner. That is what is now happening to the victim. The victim was in Alpine County that day, but whether that is where the crime occurred is not definite.

“(An assault like this) absolutely will cause memory issues and for the brain to be so fuzzy you cannot remember exactly what happened,” El Dorado County sheriff’s Deputy Damian Frisby told Lake Tahoe News.

Frisby said that while the circumstances of the assault are not definitive, the fact remains the woman was assaulted and the assailant remains unknown, and therefore at-large.

“In no way has the victim provided us with false information,” Frisby said.

He added that the scariest part is that a woman was beaten up for unknown reasons by someone who remains a mystery.

The investigation is ongoing and the woman is cooperating.