The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a woman reported that a man wearing a white mask leaped out from a wall at the Chatfield Farm corn maze, then demanded a kiss, dance or touch before tossing her to the ground and dragging her.
But investigators say the case may be difficult to solve because the sheriff’s office wasn’t notified until the next day.
Jenny Fulton, sheriff’s office spokeswoman, said if someone is placed in a similar situation, they should scream for help and immediately call law enforcement. If the woman had done that, deputies could have responded immediately and searched the area for the suspect.
Fulton said the suspect is not an employee of the Denver Botanic Gardens-operated corn maze. “He sneaked a mask into the Botanic Gardens and then put it on,” Fulton said. Masks are not allowed on the farm, she added.
Authorities say the suspect remains unidentified and authorities do not have a description of him, Fulton said.
If the man is caught, he faces a misdemeanor charge of criminal disturbance for the Saturday night assault of a woman in her 20s. The woman was walking through the corn maze with her cousin and several friends when they got separated.
The woman was walking with her cousin, when a man wearing a black clothing and a white mask allegedly jumped from behind corn stalks into their path. He began saying “inappropriate” things to Audrey’s cousin and she ran past him.
He then demanded the woman dance, kiss or touch him. He grabbed her left arm, “whipped her around,” grabbed her hands and began to dance. When she resisted, he threw her to the ground and dragged her a few feet, the police report says. When she got back to her feet, her cousin’s husband confronted the man.
When the woman reported the incident to staff members, an employee told her that four other people had reported similar incidents about people dressed in costumes who harassed customers.
