Search Continues For Suspect After Teen Attacked Inside New Jersey Home
SOMERSET, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A $2,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for attacking a teenager inside her New Jersey home.
The 18-year-old victim was home alone while the rest of her family was out of town when the attacker entered her house on Vanderbilt Avenue in Somerset around 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
The attack happened inside the victim's bedroom, police said. She was stabbed multiple times in the torso, arms, and neck, police said.
Sources said the victim was also viciously bludgeoned with a dumbbell, CBS 2's Christine Sloan reported.
The victim was able to reach a neighbor's home and call for help, CBS 2′s Hazel Sanchez reported.
She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she underwent emergency surgery. The victim remains in critical condition, police said.
"My heart goes out to the family and friends and everybody that knows her," neighbor Charles Brown, whose children go to school with the victim, told 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck. "This is a sad situation right now."
The suspect managed to escape by taking a vehicle from the victim's driveway, police said.
The car is a 2009 four-door Mazda 6 with the license plate number YHX-85W.
Detectives caution that the operator of the vehicle should not be approached because the person may be armed and dangerous.
Police said they don't yet know if the victim knew her attacker, or if it was a robbery.
Anyone with information regarding the assault or the vehicle's location is asked to contact the Franklin Township Police Department at (732) 873-2300, the Somerset County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at (908) 231-7100, or the Somerset County Crime Stoppers' Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477).
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