High Point greenway attack raises safety concerns on trail

High Point police are investigating a daylight assault on the Bicentennial Greenway near Gibson Park after two women were attacked and one was touched inappropriately around 1 p.m. Tuesday. Detectives with the High Point Police Department’s Special Victims Unit have not arrested the suspect, and police are treating the case as an assault with sexual motives.

Two women were walking together on the trail when a man in dark clothing and a face mask came out of the woods, pushed a 44-year-old woman to the ground and touched her inappropriately. When the 32-year-old woman tried to intervene, the suspect struck her too and knocked her down. A 46-year-old man in the group heard the commotion and ran back toward the women, after which the suspect pulled out a gun and fled.

Both women were taken to a local hospital and were expected to be physically okay. The Bicentennial Greenway segment in High Point runs 6.2 miles, from the Piedmont Environmental Center to Gallimore Dairy Road, with access points at the Piedmont Environmental Center, E. Fork Road, Gibson Park, Piedmont Parkway and Gallimore Dairy Road. The Piedmont Environmental Center is also where the High Point Greenway and Bicentennial Greenway converge, and trail hours there run from sunrise to sunset.

The Bicentennial Greenway is a regional trail through Guilford County, Greensboro and High Point, built on the abandoned Atlantic-Yadkin railroad bed.

High Point already operates a Real Time Crime Center and a camera-registration program that lets residents and businesses share security camera information with police, and investigators are also pointing people to Crime Stoppers of High Point for anonymous tips. The city’s accident and incident report portal is another place where public records appear, and copies can take 48 to 72 hours to post online.