WARREN, Mich. – A lockdown was lifted at five Warren schools after a knife-wielding man wearing a dress went on a wild crime spree in the area, police said.
Several police officers were called to the area of 9 Mile and Ryan roads after a sexual assault and home invasion. Chatterton Middle School, Great Oaks Academy, Fitzgerald High School, Mound Park Elementary School and Schofield Elementary School were placed under a lockdown.
Police said the man sexually assaulted a young woman around 7 a.m. Thursday after forcing open a window at the back of her house to get inside.
"He attempted to assault my little cousin," Jonathan Turk said. "At some point, her mother came back into the house and the guy chased her out and eventually made it away from here."
Police said the man was wearing a blue flower print dress and a shower cap while wielding a knife. He made his way to a park at the corner of Ira Boulevard and Toepfer Road, where he found a grandmother and two small children at the play structure.
Eyewitnesses said the man raised his dress, exposing himself to the grandmother, and asked her in front of her grandchildren to have sex.
She started screaming, and the man ran away, officials said.
Warren police descended on the neighborhood with dogs and began to search for the man, prompting a lockdown at five schools.
"This is very nerve-wracking," resident Jenny Juncaj said. "My heart is racing. I would like to get my kids from school right away. This is terrible."
Warren police said the man tried to assault a third woman before they caught him several blocks away from the first assault.
"I'm just glad he's off the streets," Turk said.
Turk's cousin was taken to the hospital. Officials have not provided an update on her condition.
The man is expected to be arraigned Friday.