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Woman says she survived horrifying attack at 'Valleyscare'
It's the kind of place you'd expect to find frightening. But when 20-year-old Karly joined her friends on a trip to "Valleyscare" at Valleyfair Amusement Park in Shakopee last week, she had no idea the horrors that awaited her. On Friday, October 17th, Karly says she separated from her friends for just a minute to get some food. Before long, she realized she was being followed by three men. "I heard these guys kind of walking behind me and one of them said something along the lines of, 'hey woman,' or addressing me as a female, asking me if he could have my number," she said. Karly says when she refused, the three white men in their mid-20s became angry and eventually, attacked. "All of a sudden there were just these hands grabbing at me, grabbing at my hair," she said. Karly recalls fighting back -- kicking, hitting, scratching and screaming. But eventually the men picked her up and carried her to a secluded part of the park, near a darkened cave, by a haunted house. Karly says the screams coming from the house drowned out her own. "I felt being hit across the cheek, I got bruises all up and down my arms from them holding my arms back while they ripped at my clothes," she said. The men tore off Karly's coat, three shirts and bra, and ripped off the button of her pants. And while they were doing that, Karly says, they were licking her neck and choking her. "Once the dots started dancing in front of my face, I prayed, 'God, please get me out of this.' I was thinking, 'oh my God, I'm going to die here," she said. The attack ended when a group of people finally heard her screams and stopped to help. The three men fled. One week later, Karly's hoping that sharing her story will help others avoid the horror she survived. "I just want people to be careful. I don't want this to happen to someone else, so I want people to be careful and I want them to know," she said. Karly's also hoping the people who helped her will come forward. She wants to thank them and she's hoping they'll help her identify her attackers. Shakopee Police have confirmed they're investigating this incident. They did arrest a 21-year-old man last Friday night -- in connection, they say, with another attempted sexual assault. Police believe the two may be connected. Meantime, an official with Valleyfair Amusement Park says the park is "continuing to cooperate fully in their investigation." Shakopee police say the number of arrests, year to date, at Valleyfair from 2007 to 2008, are actually down this year. Last year at this time, police had arrested 205 people at Valleyfair -- mostly for "minor consumption of alcohol," police say. So far this year, 184 people have been arrested at the park.
(Copyright 2008 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
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