Police Seek Man Who Hit Woman Near Spot Pond In Winchester During Dispute Over Dogs

WINCHESTER (CBS) - Massachusetts State Police are looking for a man they believe is responsible for assaulting a woman near Spot Pond on Wednesday afternoon.

Police say they received a call from a woman who claimed to have been hit by a man while walking with her dogs around the Reservoir Trails.

Joe Lampassi, of Stoneham, was walking his dog nearby when he noticed four other dogs run up to him.

"A bunch of dogs approached me, and I saw a woman standing there screaming in distress," Lampassi said. "She was standing right there screaming and yelling."

Lampassi said he ran up to the woman to help her as she kept repeating that she had been hit.

"She had been punched in her right eye," Lampassi said. "She had a small cut on her eye and her nose was bleeding. She had mentioned that she had fallen back from the punch and had actually hit the back of her head. She had some head injuries."

Lampassi helped guide the woman out of the woods and toward police. He told WBZ-TV he was taken by the woman's resilience through it all.

"That wasn't a tap," said Lampassi. "From the swelling of her eye right afterward, that was a hard punch and she just kind of walked it off."

State Police said they are looking for a white man in his 40s or 50s. They believe the man is of average height and build with salt-and-pepper hair.

If you have any information you are asked to contact police.