NORTH COLLEGE HILL, OHIO – Police hope surveillance video can help catch a robber who assaulted a female employee working alone in a laundromat overnight.
The victim, Georgina Morris, said she thanked God it wasn’t worse. She was still sore and shaken up when she talked to WCPO hours later.
"I don't even know where to begin with that, like I don't even know where to start," Morris said.
A man came to the Super Laundry on Goodman Avenue at 2 a.m. Thursday and overpowered her at the door, she said.
“I try to grab it, snatch the door back, but at this point he's here. He just snatches the door out of my hand,” Morris said.
A violent attack followed. The video shows the man punching her in the head several times.
“I'm on the ground, so he's like, ‘Get down. Get down. Face down.’ I hear him just starting snatching cords so now he has my hands behind my back,” she said. “He put his knee on my back. Another point, he puts his foot on my head, just keeps telling me to shut up.”
The man rummaged through the cash box, then left.
Morris was able to get free, lock herself in a safe place and call for help.
“Once I heard the door click the lock, I sat up, wiggled myself loose, cut my ankles loose, grabbed my phone, ran to the bathroom, locked the bathroom and called 911,” she said.
Police chief Ryan Schrand said the robber is a dangerous predator.
“This person was looking for an opportunity, took full advantage of it and he has no problem being violent,” Schrand said. “This is somebody we have to get off our streets right away."
Morris said a rush of thoughts overcame her.
“I'm trying to figure out, ‘Did this just happen?’ Then I'm thinking this could've been much worse, then I'm thinking about my kids, my grandkids, just stuff and just like, ‘Wow, like did this really just happen to me?’”
Morris went to Mercy West Hospital to be checked out. She had no serious injuries.
If you have information that could help police, call Crime Stoppers at (513) 352-3040.
