A police report released this week describes an early morning July 3rd attack on a woman walking to her car from an unnamed Capitol Hill bar that started as a scary, strangling assault and ended with a peculiar change of heart. Here’s a write-up on the incident from SeattleCrime:

“The assault/attack soon ended as soon as it began,” the report says, and the suspect “unexpectedly helped [the woman] off of the ground, brushed her shoulders off, and even tried to re-arrange the shirt he had just ripped over her shoulders.” He then told the woman “I’m really sorry” and fled.

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The woman went home after the attack and met police at a hospital the next day. She described the suspect as a black male, early to mid 30s, approximately six feet tall, with a medium build, very little facial hair, and a “tight fade.” The woman told police her attack spoke “very fast, as if he was “high” or as if he knew her.”

The police report says the attack happened around 2:30 AM near the intersection of James and Broadway just south of Swedish.

SeattleCrime notes that the woman’s injuries were not serious but were extensive with bruises to her foot, ribs, fingers, neck, and shoulders in the attack.

We recently reported on East Precinct crime trends for the Capitol Hill area. While robberies so far in 2010 are up compared to the same period in 2009, they’re down significantly from 2008. Meanwhile, assaults are down slightly across the board.