Man charged in brutal attack of woman walking home alone

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Samuel Lucky Imoa Aniseko, 19, is charged with assaulting a woman in West Valley City.
Aniseko is accused of attacking the woman on Aug. 27 after following her.
Prosecutors are looking at whether Aniseko can be linked to a similar July assault.

WEST VALLEY CITY — A 19-year-old West Valley man accused of attacking a woman walking home alone has been charged. And investigators say the man may be linked to a separate similar attack.

Samuel Lucky Imoa Aniseko, 19, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with two counts of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated robbery, all first-degree felonies.

"The defendant in this matter, while down the street, observed a female walking alone and took that as an opportunity to pounce on the victim, literally. (He) approached the victim, covered her mouth so she couldn't scream, and threw her to the ground, where he brutally physically and sexually assaulted her before robbing her of her personal belongings," prosecutors wrote in their charging documents.

The alleged incident happened on Aug. 27 about 10:20 p.m. A 22-year-old woman had just gotten off a bus on Redwood Road and was walking near 3700 South "when she heard footsteps behind her," the charges state.

Aniseko approached the woman and began speaking to her in English, which the woman did not speak, so she "continued walking but picked up the pace and stated that she then felt him cover her mouth," according to the charges. Aniseko then "threw her to the ground and began strangling her."

The woman told police that Aniseko sexually assaulted her while on the ground and strangled her a second time, which she said caused her to have blurry vision and she "thought she was going to die, and he was going to kill her," the charges state.

Aniseko also punched the woman in the face, according to the charges. But she was able to break free of his grip and run away when he stood up. Aniseko then walked away and took the woman's backpack, which contained a phone and cash.

The woman told police that she "had never seen this male and did not know him" prior to the attack, a booking affidavit states.

After investigators canvassed the area and collected surveillance video from businesses and doorbell cameras, and conducted a series of interviews, Aniseko was identified as a possible suspect.

Last week, police obtained a search warrant for a DNA swab from Aniseko. On Sept. 26, the woman picked out Aniseko from a photo lineup, and he was arrested.

In their charges, prosecutors state that Aniseko is also a suspect in a sexual assault investigation from July.

"In that case, the victim reported she was struck multiple times with a gun, strangled and sexually assaulted. The suspect in that case also stole money from the victim. The victim … was also walking down the same road (the other woman) was walking, and was approached from behind and assaulted," charging documents state.

Prosecutors have requested that Aniseko be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending trial, noting that he has only been living in Utah since April.

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