No arrest has been made, but the Austin Police Department is following new leads in its investigation into the sexual assault of an elderly resident of Chauncey Apartments.

"We're following up every possible lead," Capt. Curt Rude said. "The investigation is not focused on any one individual at this time."

Rude asked for the public's help. Anyone with information about the crime or who has seen suspicious activity at the apartment complex at 300 First Ave. NE is asked to call Detective Tom Stiehm at 437-9400.

Authorities are urging the mainly elderly residents of the apartment complex to exercise caution and take necessary steps to ensure their apartments are secure from intruders.

According to police, the attack took place between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

The woman, who lived alone in the ground-level apartment, woke up and went to the bathroom. When she returned to her bedroom, there was a man standing in the room, according to police.

After the attack, the man left the apartment.

According to police, the woman described her assailant as a white male in his early 20s, wearing a dark sweatshirt and being under six-feet tall.

According to the detective, the intruder apparently entered through an unlocked window.

According to Rude, the woman's apartment is on the south side of the city's newest apartment complex and faces a largely empty side street.

"A person could be walking along the sidewalk and walk up that grassy hill to the apartment," Rude said.

Thus far, only two calls from citizens have come into the police department. However, information from people going to work at the time the attack occurred early Thursday is being analyzed by police detectives.

"We have the net cast and we're looking for anybody and everybody who might know something about this attack," Rude said.

Women fight

The first known case of "laundromat rage" was reported Thursday at the Excalibur Laundromat along First Avenue SW.

According to an Austin Police Department report, the incident occurred near 6 p.m. Thursday.

Two women started a verbal argument, when one of them moved a laundry basket out of her way inside the laundromat, police said.

While witnesses watched, the two women exchanged obscenities and the argument moved outside.

Then, each woman took a bat from their respective vehicles and started threatening each other, according to police.

Austin Police Department officers arrived and arrested both women on disorderly conduct charges. One of the women was also wanted on a Mower County warrant.

They were released after posting bond, according to the police report.

Lee Bonorden can be reached at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com