2 sexual assaults connected to White Oak bar

DELHI TWP, Ohio - Police say two victims of sexual assault in Delhi Township spent time on the evening of the offenses at the same bar.

Delhi police say upon investigating a rape that occurred in Delhi Township on Sept. 1, they found similarities between that assault and another attempted sexual assault that occurred in Delhi Township in April.

Police say the victims of each of the assaults both spent some part of their evening at the Knotty Pine bar, located at 6947 Cheviot Road in White Oak. The victim in the Sept. 1 assault stopped at a gas station after leaving the bar and the victim in the April attack was at the bar, left, went to a drug store, and then returned to the bar before going home, according to police.

Officials say they have no proof at this time that the victims were followed by someone who was present at the bar, but released the information due to the striking similarities in the assaults.

Police say the Sept. 1 sexual assault occurred on Hickorylake Drive just after 3 a.m.

Investigators say the victim had just arrived home and was on her back deck when the assailant attempted to rob the woman at gunpoint.

The suspect raped the victim while they were outside the residence and then forced the victim to walk toward the woods behind the residence while he fled the scene, according to police.

The assailant is described as a white male in his 20s, wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and dark colored bandanna over his face. Police released a sketch of the suspect Sunday.

The suspect in the April sexual assault was also described as a white male who wore a dark colored bandanna over his face. That assault occurred on Foley Road around the same time in the early morning of April 1, around 3:30 a.m.

Detectives believe it’s a strong possibility the Sept. 1 victim was followed home.

Anyone who may have seen a suspicious person or vehicle in the Hickorylake subdivision or knows anything about either of these similar sexual assaults is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040 or Delhi police at 513-922-0060.