Mother warns shoppers about parking lot pervert — and says same man viciously beat her on walk home

What happened?

• A mother of three was exiting a Seattle-area supermarket last week when a driver pulled up and asked her for directions — and she said he was fondling himself.
• "He was fully exposed with his genital in his hand," Amanda Edwards, 35, told KIRO-TV. "He started smiling."
• Edwards said after she yelled at the man to get lost, he pulled up to a mother and child walking across the Safeway parking lot in Federal Way, KCPQ-TV reported. Edwards told KIRO the girl was about 8 or 9 years old.

Image source: KCPQ-TV video screenshot

• So Edwards tried to take a photo of the man's car and yelled at other shoppers to stay away from him, KCPQ said.
• "That hit home because I'm a mother," she told KIRO of the Nov. 13 incident, adding that the man saw her take action and sped away. "It was really that little girl that made me do all of this."

What took place on her walk home?

• Edwards figured it was all over and began her half-mile walk home, KIRO reported.
• But when she was just a few houses away, she told KIRO the same man who was fondling himself in the parking lot apparently tracked her the whole way home. Then he grabbed her from behind and brutally beat her, KCPQ said.
• "He just ran up on me really fast," Edwards told KIRO. "I had no chance to get away because he grabbed me with both hands."
• "He was extremely aggressive, and when he came up and he said, ‘I got you’ and when he started laughing — it was one of the most evil laughs I’ve heard," Edwards recalled to KCPQ. "I mean, to me he had a rapist mentality."

Image source: KCPQ-TV video screenshot

• "The next thing I know I was waking up on the ground [before] running home," she added to KCPQ. "I didn’t realize I had been hit multiple times in my face."
• Edwards sustained four fractures in her face — including a crack in the roof of her mouth — and needs surgical plates, KCPQ added.

Image source: KCPQ-TV video screenshot

• "He had it out for me," she told KIRO, "because I did warn the lady and let her know he was doing that."

What else is the victim dealing with?

• A tearful Edwards told KCPQ that the attack left her in fear.
• "I’ve never had that fear in my life," she told the station. "I’ve never felt like I can’t walk and be free and protect myself. I think that’s what bothers me the most is that I didn’t get a chance to get away."
• What's worse is the fear that she "can’t walk out the door without feeling like this guy is somewhere around here — that hits so close to home," Edwards told KCPQ.

Why did she share her story?

• Edwards wanted to warn others.
• "He put time into following me and getting out of his car and running up on me and attacking me, and I feel like if he got away with it, he would probably feel like he can do it again," she told KCPQ.

Is there any good news?

• Police said Friday night they arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with the attack after receiving tips and looking at surveillance video, KCPQ reported.
• Edwards described the man as a Pacific Islander in his 20s to 30s with a slim-but-solid build and wearing a beanie, KCPQ added.
• And she told KIRO she's do it all over again despite the horrific attack: "You can't just approach women and treat women — or anybody in general — the way he did."