Woman viciously attacked after warning others of man fondling himself in public

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- (KCPQ) -- A vicious attack left a woman in Federal Way with broken bones in her face.

It might have been motivated by her effort to help others — warning them of a man who approached her asking for directions and then began fondling himself.

The victim, 35-year-old Amanda Edwards, says it started in a Safeway parking lot and ended on her walk home.

“Definitely wasn't a fair fight,” said Edwards, who choked up recalling the details.

Edwards was at Safeway to buy dinner for her three kids around 6:15 Monday night.

Instead – she returned home with four fractures in her face, including a crack down the roof of her mouth.

As she was leaving the store, a man pulled up in his car, fondling himself as he asked her for directions.

"You have to have a pretty crazy mind to go around and think that it's OK to do something like that," said Edwards.

When she yelled at driver to get lost, the man drove over to another mother and child walking across the parking lot.

Amanda tried to take a picture of his car, then yelled at other customers to stay away. The man sped off, then--thinking he was gone--she walked home.

"The next thing I know I was waking up on the ground [before] running home," said Edwards. "I didn't realize I had been hit multiple times in my face."

She was followed, grabbed from behind and beaten near 21st Avenue SW--possibly targeted because she tried to warn others about his behavior.

"The thought that I can't walk out the door without feeling like this guy is somewhere around here--that hits so close to home," said Edwards.

Amanda has four fractures in her face and now needs surgical plates reconstructed in her checks.

"I've never had that fear in my life. I've never felt like I can't walk and be free and protect myself," said Edwards. "I think that's what bothers me the most is that I didn't get a chance to get away."