JUST IN: Woman sexually assaulted in Reston apartment, police say

Updated at 12:25 a.m. on 8/23/2022 — A man has been taken into custody, and charges are “forthcoming,” Fairfax County police said.

Earlier: A woman reported being sexually assaulted at knifepoint while in her apartment in the Shadowood area of Reston, the Fairfax County Police Department said today (Monday).

Officers were called to the 2200 block of Lovedale Lane around 11:50 p.m. yesterday (Sunday) after the unidentified victim said she “awoke to a man standing inside her apartment.”

“The man threatened the woman with what appeared to be a knife and sexually assaulted her,” the FCPD said in its report. “The suspect is described as a black man, unknown age, approximately 5’6″, thin build, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a mask, and gloves.”

The woman was transported to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said.

Police conducted a search of the area but haven’t identified or located a suspect yet.

“Our detectives have been working nonstop on this case,” Major Ed O’Carroll, the FCPD’s Major Crimes Bureau commander for cyber and forensics, said. “We’ve developed and are actively following up on several promising leads. I have the utmost confidence the suspect will be identified soon and we will do everything we can to hold him accountable for this heinous crime.”

The FCPD says detectives are looking for any home surveillance video that community members might have recorded last night.

Information can be shared with the police department at 703-246-7800, option 2, or through Crime Solvers, which can be reached by phone (1-866-411-TIPS) and online.

This is the second sexual assault that has reportedly occurred in Fairfax County within the past week. Police said a woman had been assaulted by a man with a gun in the Mount Vernon area last Wednesday (Aug. 17).