Attack Robs 2 of Right to Run : Crime: Woman’s rage saves jogger from rape or worse in Mission Viejo but fear is the aftermath.

Mary Pantoja had always admired the short, trim woman she often saw running near their Mission Viejo neighborhood.

She looked about Pantoja’s age, 40. That was inspirational enough, but this woman’s persistence was really amazing, Pantoja thought. She didn’t seem to miss a day of exercise.

Last month, admiration turned into determination and Pantoja decided to start running. It was a decision that may have saved her fellow jogger, Ellen Clinton, from sexual assault.

It was Pantoja’s angry, screaming, headlong charge at a man who was attacking Clinton on a jogging path that sheriff’s investigators say thwarted the suspect, who may have assaulted three other women in Wilderness Glen Park over the past two years.

“I saw him tackle her and right away I knew who he was and what was happening,” said Pantoja, a postal worker. “I was instantly filled with rage and began running at them, screaming curse words. I was so angry, I didn’t have any fear until afterwards.”

The hunt continues for Clinton’s assailant. Sheriff’s Lt. Randy Blair said that sex crimes investigators are following a few good leads, “which is more than we’ve had in the past when we didn’t have anything to go on. We want to get this guy real badly.”

The suspect attacks female joggers running alone during the early morning or evening. For two years, he has terrorized a community known for its commitment to sports, where joggers are a common sight. Last month’s assault was his first in almost a year.

Since the experience, Clinton and Pantoja have talked several times, sharing the relief and fear that have come afterward. “You go through stages. At first you’re so high and glad that you’re alive, then it sinks in that your world is no longer safe,” said Clinton, a 45-year-old intermediate school teacher. “But, it would have turned out a lot different if it wasn’t for Mary.”

It was just getting dark when Pantoja noticed Clinton, jogging a few hundred yards ahead. Just minutes later, Pantoja saw a man emerge from the bushes to attack the woman from behind.

The Nov. 11 attack was brazen, occurring in plain sight on the bike path next to Los Alisos Boulevard as cars whizzed by.

“A few weeks before, a woman was choking at a bridal shower I went to and I just stood there all paralyzed,” she said. “But this time, I just reacted by running at them and screaming so loud, I was hoarse the next day.”

Pantoja was too far away to be heard or noticed at first, but close enough to see the attack unfold in horrifying detail as she pushed herself to run faster.

Clinton was putting up a battle, punching and kicking at her attacker. But after a brief struggle, the small woman was lifted off the ground and being carried into the nearby underbrush when screaming, cursing Pantoja rushed to within about 50 yards of the man. Startled, he dropped Clinton and ran off into the park.

“When (Pantoja) came over, I just gave her this magnificent squeeze,” Clinton said. “She was why he let me go. No matter how hard I fought, I don’t think it would have done any good.”

Afraid he would return, the women tried to flag down a passing motorist. At least 30 cars flew by before a family returning from a soccer team pizza party stopped and drove them to a nearby telephone.

In the weeks following the attack, Clinton and Pantoja talked and discovered they shared the same feelings during the close call.

“I was angry more than anything else,” said Pantoja. “Here was someone I’ve seen and admired being turned into a victim. I was so mad, I was determined he was not going to make a victim out of us.”

When Clinton was tackled, “I got angry more than anything else, I just thought, ‘I’m going to do the best I can. I wasn’t going to let this creep have his way.’ ”

Their obstinate refusal to be victimized can be traced to backgrounds that contain challenge and accomplishment.

Clinton’s mountain was climbed in 1978 when she began running, despite taking care of three children and finishing off her final year of college.

Running “has given me strength to do other things in life,” she said. “It gives you outward, physical strength and shows you how to achieve inner strength and accomplish your goals. It teaches you not to give up.”

A few years ago, Pantoja began studying jujitsu and continued training for three years. Tougher than learning to punch and kick was the effort to cast aside the genteel role that society puts upon women, she said.

“It took so long to get over the feeling that it was not lady-like to scream or hit,” Pantoja said. “This generation is learning that lesson better than mine.”

Both women say their lives have been changed by the incident--and not for the better.

“I think this is some sick guy who knows (Wilderness) Glen like the back of his hand,” Pantoja said. “I don’t go running anymore.”

And for the first time since 1978, neither does Clinton.

“Since the attack, I’ve had to turn to the gym,” she said. “This happened in Mission Viejo, in the vicinity of my neighborhood and loved ones. It’s not a safe world when you can’t do the simple things you want to do.”

The attacker is described as being in his mid-20s with dark hair, about 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the sheriff’s sex crimes unit at (714) 647-7418.