BY KEITH EPPS

A local man was cut with a box cutter early Saturday after he confronted a man who had touched his girlfriend's buttocks and offered her money, police said.

The incident occurred in the 1700 block of Lafayette Boulevard, where the man and his girlfriend had gone to visit his sister, Fredericksburg police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said.

The 25-year-old girlfriend told police she left the apartment about 2:40 a.m. to go to a store. As she was leaving the apartment, she told police she engaged in friendly conversation with a group of males who were outside.

When she returned to the parking lot, police said, one of the men from the group walked up to her car and offered her money in exchange for a sexual favor. She declined, and the man reached into the car and fondled her buttocks.

The woman screamed and the man walked away. The woman ran into the apartment, woke her boyfriend and told him what had happened.

The boyfriend, 27, came out to look for the man and was directed to a green Mitsubishi Galant in the parking lot by the group of males who were still hanging around.

Bledsoe said the boyfriend confronted the man, leaned inside the car and was struck with the box cutter, causing cuts to two of his fingers of his left hand. The man then sped out of the parking lot.

He is described as a Hispanic male in his 20s, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, with a slender build and dark, spiky hair. Bledsoe said police got a street name from witnesses but have not yet identified the suspect.

Keith Epps: 540/374-5404
Email: kepps@freelancestar.com