Woman says she was pepper sprayed while hiking in Cherokee Park

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A masked man wielding pepper spray and a taser was at Cherokee Park over the weekend.

Louisville Metro Police confirmed it received reports of this happening over the weekend.

According to police, the man approached at least three people — men and women — on trails in the park.

LMPD said it happened Friday and Saturday between 8:30-9:30 p.m. Witnesses said they were approached by a man with dark skin wearing dark clothing and an N-95 mask.

A person, who asked to stay anonymous out of fear or retaliation from the accused attacker, told WDRB they were out for a hike on the trail Friday evening.

"The guy, in my opinion, intended to kill me," the victim said. "He had hate in his eyes."

The victim said the suspect was walking in the opposite direction and approached in a "methodic" way. He sprayed bear spray and the victim ducked under what is believed to be a strike from either a knife or a taser.

"My inner feelings were like, you've gotta run," the person told WDRB. "If you want to survive, you've gotta get away from the threat."

The victim was able to run away, and the man chased behind for a period of time. He eventually stopped as the victim continued to run for another mile and waved down a stranger who stopped his car. There, she called police as the man drove back to the victim's parked car.

"He was kind enough to drive me to the top of Dog Hill again as I was talking to 911," the victim said.

Though it was getting dark, the victim described the man as a black male in his late 30s or early 40s and wore a black jacket, rubber gloves tucked into the jacket, and jeans. He was not wearing a mask when she was attacked.

Pictures provided to WDRB show the bear spray the victim said she wiped off her body. Another picture shows a burn the woman said she sustained from the spray.

Police believe he was trying to pepper spray or tase people. All of those people were able to run away and weren't hurt.

LMPD said it increased patrols and the area and is still trying to identify the man. However, the victim believes that may not be enough.

"It takes more than just driving the loop. seeing a police cruiser isn't going to stop people," the person said. "He came back the next night and attacked people."

If you have any information about these attacks, please call the police at 574-LMPD.