EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
Police say an Evansville woman was found in her driveway, unconscious, after being beaten by an unknown attacker for no apparent reason.
That victim is 53-year-old Stephanie Stewart. Stewart tells 14 News she has lived at her home on Sweetser Avenue for about six months, and has faced some verbal harassment from some of her neighbors. But she says she has never had to deal with anything, like the assault she suffered late Saturday and early Sunday morning.
Late Saturday night, Stewart says she walked her sister to a nearby bus stop and then proceeded to a liquor store. When she left the store, she says she had an encounter with a strange man, that made her uneasy.
"I turned around to make sure he wasn't following me because he looked suspicious, and he said, 'I'm not gonna hurt you.' So, I kept walking," Stewart said.
Eventually, Stewart made it back to her home on Sweetser Avenue. Stewart says at about midnight, she was sitting in her carport, listening to the radio, when she was suddenly attacked.
"I was sitting here with the radio on and the dogs started barking, but I ignored it. Someone grabbed me by behind my neck and hit my head in the table, right here where the gash is, and busted my lip and hit me. All I remember is crawling, trying to crawl to the house," Stewart recalls.
Stewart didn't make it back inside. Instead, she says she was unconscious in the driveway for nearly six hours.
"When my Granny found me, when she was looking for me in the room, and I was found out there. She couldn't wake me up, so she called her son and he woke me, got me up, when I was unconscious. So, they took me to the hospital," Stewart said.
Stewart was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center where she was diagnosed with a concussion.
Police say she was punched and kicked several times in the head, for reasons Stewart does not understand.
"Nothing ever has happened to me like this, in my life. I hope they catch the person because I'm sore. I got a busted lip, a gash right here between my eyes, and my nose is messed up right here. I got several bruises on my head," Stewart points out.
Stewart says she did not get a good look at her attacker, but she says the strange man she encountered on her way home was about six feet tall, and wore glasses and a black hat.
Police say anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call 436-7979.
Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.
Stewart says at about midnight, she was sitting in her carport, listening to the radio, when she was suddenly attacked.
