PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies are patrolling the Olympic Discovery Trail between Port Angeles and Sequim in response to an attack on a female jogger about two weeks ago.
Deputy Mike Leiter said many people have stopped him just to thank him since he and other deputies began patrolling the trail on an ATV on Sunday.
Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict told deputies to patrol the trail to provide peace of mind for those using the trail and to deter crime, he said.
“They can expect to see [deputies patrolling],” he said. “Our goal is to keep the trail safe.”
He said the focus is primarily on the section of trail from Hollywood Beach to Morse Creek, but deputies are intermittently patrolling up to Railroad Bridge Park as well.
Leiter said that Wednesday he patrolled that entire span of trail and focused on areas that had been problems in the past as well.
Benedict said it’s not uncommon for deputies to patrol the trail and that’s it’s often in response to community concerns.
“We’ve done this in support of the Discovery Trail on and off for the last three or four years,” he said.
He said the Sheriff’s Office has increased its presence on the trail before when there was a rash of burglarized homes a few years ago.
Benedict said the Sheriff’s Office has pursued some leads after a 34-year-old Port Angeles woman fought off two men April 15.
“I thought we had some promising leads, but I’m not so sure any more,” he said. “It’s a serious crime.”
She described her alleged attackers as two clean-shaven white men between the ages of 25 and 30. She said they attacked her at about 8:30 a.m. April 15 when she was jogging between the Ennis Creek parking lot and the Gales Addition section of the trail.
She was running east when she was grabbed from behind by one of the two men, but was able to incapacitate her assailant before she got away.
The two men fled on foot to the west.
The first man was described as being about 6-feet tall. The second was about 5-foot-8-inches tall.
Both men were wearing loose-fitting clothing.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 360-417-2459.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
A woman jogs on the Olympic Discovery Trail near Hollywood Beach on Thursday. (Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News)
