Alissa Montez’s Instagram warning went viral after she was grabbed on a popular Belltown trail, prompting other women to share similar experiences.
SEATTLE — A Seattle woman says she was grabbed and nearly pulled off a popular running trail near Olympic Sculpture Park in broad daylight Wednesday morning, and her social media warning to other women has since gone viral.
Alissa Montez, 29, says she runs the well-traveled Belltown waterfront path almost every day. On Wednesday around 11 a.m., she says a man she initially mistook for a construction worker seized her by the arm.
“He grabbed me, yanked onto my arm and my clothes and tried to pull me,” Montez said. “And then I yanked away and was screaming at him and just kept running.” She says the man retreated into nearby bushes after she broke free.
Montez, who has 86,000 followers on Instagram, quickly posted a video account of the attack — including footage of the suspect — to warn others.
“I’m in Seattle and I just got attacked by some guy on my run,” she says in the clip.
Her message resonated widely. The post has since accumulated approximately 20,000 likes and nearly 1,000 comments.
In the video, Montez urged women to take precautions: “This is just your reminder that if you’re a woman, we’re not safe anywhere, but we’re definitely not safe when we’re vulnerable, so please, please, please carry pepper spray, a taser.”
Despite the harrowing experience, Montez said she refused to let the attack cut her workout short.
“I finished my entire run. I ran my 5k,” she said. “I remember thinking to myself, this loser is not going to ruin my run.”
The response online revealed that her experience may not be isolated.
“I just got a [direct message] about an hour ago about a girl who said the exact same thing happened to her here, but a few years ago, and she never reported it,” Montez said.
Montez filed a police report shortly after, and also notified park security. According to the police report, park security described the suspect as “a local transient.”
“I really thought it was a safe place to run,” Montez said, adding that her goal in speaking out is not to frighten women away from outdoor exercise, but to keep them informed and prepared.
Authorities recommend that anyone who experiences a similar incident call 911 as soon as they are in a safe location.
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