The assault happened as the victim was walking in the area of North Mooney and Prospect in Visalia.
Visalia police are looking for the two men who attacked a young woman as she was walking along a busy intersection.
The woman was on her way home when police say two suspects pulled her into the bushes.
Police say a 23-year old woman was the victim of a brazen attack along this busy stretch of North Mooney boulevard in Visalia at around 9:30 Monday night.
Investigators say the victim was walking home after she ran out of gas at the intersection on Goshen and Giddings, nearly a mile and a half away from where she was sexually assaulted.
"She was in the area of Mooney and Prospect when the two approached her and knocked her into a landscaping area where they attempted to take her clothing off," Sgt. Amy Watkins of the Visalia Police Department said.
The bushes that line the sidewalk along North Mooney Boulevard are just a few feet away from the busy roadway, which is also just down the street from a school.
Authorities believe the crime could have become more serious if a car hadn't driven by.
"According to the victim a vehicle had passed by during this altercation and that may have spooked our suspects and that's when they took of and fled," Watkins said.
Sgt. Watkins says the victim then ran to a nearby house where she called 911.
Police say attacks like this are rare. The crime makes 18-year old Brandi Mulvey nervous because she lives near where the crime happened.
"It's scary I walk here like every night, like all the time every day," Mulvey said.
"I don't like hearing that considering I'm a homeowner in this area and it just continues to devalue the homes I think," neighbor Dale Charrette said.
Police say this is the only attack like this that they've heard of in the last few days. They're hoping to track down the suspects and are asking the public to call them right away with any information they might have.
