Assault at Midwest Community Bank remains unsolved
By PATRICK CROWLEY
3/7/2006

While employees of a Missouri mortgage broker worked, one of their colleagues was robbed and assaulted by a knife-wielding man.

Police in St. Charles say a man robbed a woman and then sexually assaulted her at Midwest Community Bank. The man escaped on foot and there have been no arrests, Officer Paul McCurtain of the St. Charles Police told MortgageDaily.com.

The investigation of the Jan. 30 incident is continuing. Police are not naming the 30-year-old victim due to the nature of the attack.

"He came in off the street," McCurtain said. "It's a two story building. She was on the first floor, and there wasn't anyone on the first floor" working with her.

"There were some people upstairs," McCurtain said, but they heard nothing to raise their suspicions.

Police, with the help of officers from a neighboring department, canvassed the neighborhood but made no arrests.

"We're following up leads on (the attack)," he said. "It's an ongoing investigation."

The brokerage's management could not be reached to comment on the incident.

According to a police report, the man walked into the mortgage office at about 10:30 a.m. He is described as a white male, about 6-foot tall with facial hair. He was also wearing hoop earrings.

The victim told police the man came in to the office, pulled a knife and demanded money. He may have been confused by the name of the company and could have believed it was a traditional bank, and therefore stocked with cash, rather than a mortgage brokerage.

"There was no money being held by the business, as it is a mortgage company," police said in the statement, "so only money belonging to the victim was taken. The offender sexually assaulted the female victim before leaving the area on foot."

Police have not divulged details of the attack. The woman was treated at a local hospital and released the same day. She provided enough information to police for an artist to draw a composite sketch of the suspect, which has been circulated in the community including to other mortgage lenders and brokers.

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