Local assault victim speaks out about her experience

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Last September, Mikka Thomas left her home to grab cigarettes from a nearby store and almost never made it back. She was attacked from behind while returning home. Thankfully, a neighbor heard her screams and came outside.

Once Shaun Sullivan realized that something was wrong, he and his dog, “Dusty,” sprang into action. Stopping the attack and holding the man responsible until police arrived. Thomas had been struck repeatedly with a large rock, but she survived.

Five months later, the large wounds that Thomas had all over her head have healed. Meanwhile, her newly discovered fears and anxieties are worse than ever.

“Where I would step outside onto my back porch, I could see the street that it happened on,” she said. “I would have to see it every day and I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

She has moved since the incident but does not feel any safer in her new neighborhood. Today, things as simple as walking down the street without company are difficult for her.

“Before I walk out the door, I have to look out every window, to make sure there’s nobody out there,” Thomas told Alaska’s News Source on Friday.

Earlier this week, her concerns found a new fuel source after her alleged attacker’s bail hearing. Thomas called in to share her story with the judge, but the court ultimately ruled that bail in the case would remain set at $3,000.

Thomas is frustrated that her testimony, and the suspect’s lengthy criminal record, were not given more consideration. In her opinion, he doesn’t deserve to be a part of the community any longer. She hopes that as the trial moves forward, more answers will come to the surface about why she was targeted by a man that she had never crossed paths with before that night.

For now, Thomas is urging other women to view her experience as an example of what can happen when not aware of one’s own surroundings. She is worried that someone else might find themselves in the same situation that she ended up in last fall.

“I believe Anchorage really does need to step up when it comes to violent criminals,” she said.