BUFFALO, N.Y. — People packed Delaware Park Sunday afternoon, despite Buffalo Police still looking for a man who tried to sexually assault a woman walking the trails Tuesday.
A few of those park-goers shared their ideas on how to improve the area.
According to police, the victim was walking alongside Hoyt Lake near the statue of David just after 8 p.m. When a man grabbed her by the back of the neck, pulled her off the path, pushed her down and attempted to sexually assault her.
Douglas Elijah Williams bikes through the area where this occurred frequently.
He feels the northern end of the park has more problems, because it’s not very well lit after sunset.
“In the dark side [of the park], its dark… people aren’t safe, men aren’t safe there, women aren’t safe there."
"You absolutely should be able to do go out for a run, walk, bike, anything without fear,” Police Commissioner of the City of Buffalo Joseph A. Gramaglia said at Saturday’s press conference. “We’re going to do all we can to ensure the safety for everybody out there.”
Saturday, Buffalo Police said they are checking the cameras to identify this man, but that the cameras in the park don’t have many good views of the area.
“Some of the issues we have with our cameras is that there’s a lot of trees in the park, when you get to the summertime, the tree canopy blocks all the views.”
A few park guests tell me they don’t even know where these cameras would be.
“On the other side of the park, I see no cameras and no lights,” Williams said.
“I haven’t noticed cameras other than traffic cameras,” Brittany Perez said.
Despite not seeing many cameras, Brittany and her husband, Richard Perez, feel the most dangerous part of Delaware Park is the parkway running right through the middle of it.
“Given this is the only really nice park in the city for people to use, it’s unfortunate there’s a literal highway running through it,” Richard said.
On Saturday, Buffalo Police said they would increase their presence in the area and were seen walking through the park that day.
However, while I was there Sunday afternoon between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., I did not see any uniformed police while there.
Buffalo police said there are no additional updates on the assault at this time.
