Ventura – It’s hard to imagine any hour of the week presumably more benign and less threatening to a woman walking her dogs in a Ventura neighborhood than at 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Yet, for one female resident of the city doing just that on the morning of September 14th, that day and that hour proved to have violent and possibly deadly potential.
It was just after 11:00 a.m., according to the media report issued by a Ventura Police Public Affairs spokesman, that the Police Command Center received a 911 Emergency call from a citizen reporting “an unknown disturbance” on a neighborhood street. “Officers responded to the area within minutes,” as described in the report, “and discovered a possible attempted sexual assault.”
A female victim at the scene detailed for patrol officers that she had been walking her dogs and had been followed for some considerable distance by a man whom she ultimately turned to and confronted verbally. At that point, the suspect summarily attacked her, pushed her to the ground, and attempted to forcibly remove her clothing. The victim’s screams for help apparently alerted neighbors, several of whom placed a series of 911 Emergency calls on her behalf.
Officers at the scene, working on witness statements and a description provided by the victim, located Anthony Morales, a 24-year old Ventura resident. When he was presented to the victim, he was positively identified by her and he was taken into custody without further incident.
Morales was transported to Ventura County Jail and booked on charges of attempted rape, with his bail set at $100,000.
Read more:
CBSLA: Man attempts to sexually assault woman
Sespe Sun: Attempt sexual assault
