A Mankato woman told police she was sexually assaulted early Sunday while in Mankato’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.

The incident is similar to a sexual assault reported in the same area of town about a month ago — both occurred in the early morning hours and the suspects in both cases are similar.

A 23-year-old women called police at 3:25 a.m. Sunday. She told police that, while walking to a friend’s house, on the 100 block of Grove Street, an Hispanic male in his mid to late 20s approached and began a conversation with her.

He called himself George, and was between 5-feet-8-inches and 5-feet-9-inches tall and about 160 pounds. He offered to help the woman find the place she was looking for.

The woman told police the man then punched her in the face and pushed her to the ground. He got on top of the woman and attempted to pull her pants down.

But the woman struggled and was able to get away from the man. She went to a nearby residence and called police. She was then taken to Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital where she was treated for minor injuries and released.

About a month ago a woman who was walking within a few blocks of the same area also reported being attacked by an Hispanic male. Police have advised that no one walk alone in this area during late-night or early-morning hours.

They haven’t increased the number of officers on patrol, but police say officers are trying to patrol the area more between calls for service.

Police say they’re investigating whether a connection exists between the two incidents, and they say they may revisit the victim from the earlier incident to see if anything from Sunday’s interest can help her to better identify the man who attacked her.

Police ask that anyone with information about the assault call them at 387-8780.