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Deputies investigate report woman was attacked

A Largo woman says an acquaintance cut her when she approached him at her mobile home park.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published October 14, 2005

LARGO - The Sheriff's Office was investigating an unusual incident Wednesday evening that sent a 45-year-old woman to the hospital.

Brenda Tobin told law officers that she called out to a man she saw outside her home at the Green Meadows mobile home park. When she walked up to greet the man, whom she knows only as Derrick, he attacked her without provocation with what deputies described as "an edged weapon."

"She was unsure of what happened next during that attack, but she believes she sprayed her attacker with black spray paint," sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jim Bordner said Thursday.

A neighbor called law enforcement, and deputies were dispatched to the scene at 7:50 p.m. Tobin was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where she was treated for cuts to her torso and released.

Tobin, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, told deputies the suspect is a 43-year-old man who is about 5 feet 4 and 175 pounds. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt, blue jeans and gloves, Tobin said.

Bordner said detectives stopped by Tobin's home Thursday to verify details of the attack, but they were unable to meet with her.

"We're investigating her claims," Bordner said. "We are treating this seriously, but we have questions."

No arrests had been made as of Thursday. The Sheriff's Office wants anyone with information about the incident to call Detective Robert Snipes at 582-6200 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-8477.

Times researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 14, 2005, 01:40:20]