HOUSTON – A woman running along the White Oak Bayou Trail Thursday night near White Oak Drive and Houston Avenue was attacked by a teenager.

Daphne, who doesn’t want her last name used, said the teen was between 15-17 years old and had been following her along the trail.

“I’d run and I’d stop to try and break pace with him and he did whatever I did, he would run with me as if he was with me,” she said.

Daphne decided to try and get away by picking up speed and running ahead but the teen did the same thing and that’s when he grabbed her.

“He ran behind me and grabbed me and then grabbed me from the front,” Daphne said.

The teen grabbed her behind and also her breast, she fought back and punched the suspect in the face with her car keys.

“I could tell I startled him. What was disturbing is he didn’t care. He actually turned around and laughed,” she said.

Daphne snapped a photo of the teen as he ran away in the other direction, then she called the Houston Police Department.

She told KPRC it took police over an hour to respond and she got tired of waiting on the corner, so she went home.

The officer eventually met her at her home, where he took a report and told Daphne he recognized the teen from her photo.

“They’re telling me this is gang activity and they recognize who this young man is,” she said. “If you know that there is gang activity at White Oak and this is something you’re investigating, why did it take you that long to get to me?“

A spokesperson for the Houston Police Department told KPRC they would have to look into the response time and see how long it took officers to arrive.

Daphne hasn’t decided if she wants to file a formal complaint against the department or not.

She does want other runners and walkers who use the trail to know this happened and to be careful.

“The word needs to be out. It’s scary. I feel violated and I feel violated twice," she said. "I feel violated by the guy and betrayed by the Police Department.”

At last check, the teen had not been caught, but HPD did confirm they believe they know who he is and will continue to look for him in the area.