A woman walking through downtown Senoia was grabbed from behind and sexually assaulted in a dark stretch of Travis Street. She never saw her attacker’s face. Less than three days later, police had a suspect in custody. Senoia Police say surveillance cameras, Flock license plate readers, investigative work, and assistance from federal and Fayette County law enforcement led them to 30-year-old Fayetteville resident Isaiah Jamal Phillips, a Sandy Creek High School graduate, who is charged with battery, false imprisonment, and sexual battery in connection with the August 16 attack. And as investigators began looking into Phillips, they found a history that Capt. Jason Ercole said concerned them: previous sexual battery cases in Roswell and Peachtree City, another sexual battery warrant from Morrow, and Fayette County records showing a woman had previously obtained a 12-month stalking protective order against him. Asked whether he believed the alleged behavior was escalating, Ercole said, “Yeah, very much so.” The attack happened almost exactly at 10 p.m. Sunday, August 16. The victim regularly walked the streets of Senoia and told police she had never felt unsafe there. The area where she was attacked, however, was extremely dark. “All she could see were arms,” Ercole said. At first, the woman thought someone she knew might be playing a joke on her. “She said at first that she, ‘I’ve been around here so long. I know so many people. I’ve never felt unsafe. People know me; I know…
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