Bainbridge Island police are investigating two separate reports of sexual assaults that occurred late Sunday afternoon.

A 19-year-old woman told police that an unknown man attacked her at approximately 4:30 p.m. July 22 while she was walking home from Safeway around Madison Avenue and Ihland Way.

The woman told police that a man approached and said something to her, but she could not understand what he had said.

As the young woman turned from the sidewalk onto a dirt trail, the man pushed her from behind and she fell to the ground. The man attempted to remove her pants as he held her by the neck.

The young woman struck him and bit his fingers, and the attacker then ran away.

Police responded to a second report of an assault that occurred at approximately 4:40 p.m. near Madison Avenue and Bjune Drive. A 53-year-old woman told police that a man approached her from behind and grabbed her crotch and buttocks.

Descriptions of the suspect in both assaults are similar. The assailant was described as a man in his mid-twenties, 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8 tall, with short black hair and a medium build.

Authorities said anyone who may have seen something or someone related to these attacks should contact the Bainbridge Island Police Department at 206-842-5211.