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Rochester, NH Police Address Delay In Planet Fitness Attack Arrest

ROCHESTER, New Hampshire (CBS) -- It's been nearly one month since an 18-year-old woman was attacked by a man in the parking lot of a Planet Fitness, but the suspect has still not been arrested.

Now, Rochester Police Capt. Jason Thomas said the long wait is not the department's fault, but is due to a company processing records for a search warrant related to the case.

Rochester attack
Police are searching for the man who attacked a woman outside of a Rochester, NH gym (Image from Rochester PD)

Surveillance video from the June 12 attack shows a man get out of his car and punch Erin McCarthy from behind 39 times.

McCarthy did not suffer major injuries, but was left bruised following the attack.

Police said he waited outside for McCarthy, who works inside, for nearly the entirety of her eight-hour shift.

Erin McCarthy
Erin McCarthy. (WBZ-TV)

Nearly two weeks after the attack, Rochester Police announced that they had identified a "strong suspect" and expected to make an arrest soon--but that didn't happen.

Capt. Thomas expressed his frustration over the fact that it's taking so long to arrest the man. He said a company contracted by the department is still processing records for one of five search warrants.

He said there would have been an arrest by now if there was any sort of threat to the public.

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