Her early morning walk on a quiet Southold beach started out like any other Saturday morning. The weather was lovely. Abundant sunshine under a bright blue sky made the thick layer of tiny white shells sparkle on the the shoreline at Cedar Beach, as Southold resident Joanna Rallis set out westward across the public bathing beach for exercise and maybe some yoga and meditation on the the sand past where the fishermen were casting their lines.
She walked past the protected nesting area, roped off to provide shelter for the terns and piping plover. As she passed a path that connects the beach to the public parking area, her eye caught the movement of a man who was on the path then stepped into the protected area, walking toward her as she trekked along the beach.
Rallis took note of him, because he was walking in the nesting area. “I remember thinking, ‘What kind of an a**hole walks through there?’” she recalled in an interview this morning. She would soon find out.
The appearance of the man and his movement toward her set her on edge. She turned to look back and saw him running toward her. She was alone on the long stretch of beach — alone and vulnerable.
He grabbed her from behind and thrust his hand roughly into her crotch. Rallis screamed. The fishermen didn’t seem to notice, but her attacker ran off.
She watched him run to the path he came out of and by the time she got within sight of the parking area, Rallis saw a white minvan leaving, “driving erratically,” she said. Then she called her husband and police.
Photo: Denise Civiletti
Rallis has come forward about the incident, which she says left her feeling vulnerable, violated, embarrassed and angry, because she wants to alert other women that they should keep their guard up.
“I want to make sure they know there’s someone like this out there,” she said today.
“I never felt like anything like this would ever happen happen here. I grew up here,” Rallis said. “I never really felt threatened.”
Rallis said because she took notice of him walking through the nesting area, she got a pretty good look at him. She describes him as as a young man, 18 to 20 years old, Hispanic, with light brown skin, dark hair, dark eyes, maybe 5-8 or 5-9 in height, with a medium build. He was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt, long pants and — she thinks — sneakers.
Southold Town Police responded to her call very quickly and were very courteous and respectful, Rallis said.
“They took it seriously and had genuine concern,” she said. “They were very cordial and didn’t make me feel uncomfortable.”
Rallis, 42, who walks the beach every weekend morning and usually stops for yoga and meditation, sometimes even takes the path to the beach her assailant took on Saturday. She said the “very brazen” attack has made her re-think her routine.
“What if I walked on that path Saturday and met him alone back there?” she asks. “No one would have ever heard me.”
Women need to be aware of their surroundings and take precautions, Rallis said. “Walk with a friend, avoid desolate stretches of beach or hiking trails, even carry pepper spray.”
Her emotions following the attack have “run the whole gamut,” she said, but she feels mostly angry about the attack, which she called “intrusive and completely shocking.” It robbed her of her sense of safety and security in a place she loves.
Rallis returned to her favorite spot for her usual walk on Sunday morning, but didn’t go past the rocks and stayed in the public beach area.
Continuing to enjoy her morning walk is her way of saying, “This is not acceptable and I won’t tolerate this.”
Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley said there have not been any other reports similar to the one made by Rallis Saturday. “We also do not have any active leads at this time,” the chief said. He noted there was a delay in time between when the incident reportedly occurred and when Rallis reported it to police, “which made it more difficult to locate any possible suspect,” Flatley said.
