Homeowner Catches Suspect after Break-In, Attempted Rape

Homeowner Catches Suspect after Break-In, Attempted Rape


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Jed Boal ReportingChief Gerald Maughan, Midvale Police Department: “I think both the victim and the father are heroes. The whole family are heroes."

High praise from police after a Midvale girl fights off a man who tried to rape her. Police say the attacker slipped into the house and into the 14-year-old's bedroom, but he ran into a fight and left the house in handcuffs.

The family’s swift action put the accused attacker behind bars. Police say the girl screamed, her father came running, as a result no one was hurt.

People who live on Wasatch Street in Midvale say it's usually quiet. But, at 3 a.m a girl's scream pierced the calm. Police say 33-year-old Kendal Davis went in the house through an unlocked door, cased it out and disabled the phone. When the 14-year-old girl woke up, police say Davis was standing by her bed lifting up her bedclothes.

Chief Gerald Maughan: “He says, ‘Don't bother to yell, I've already tied up your parents and your brother.’ She' screams, and her father and mother come running."

Police say Davis ran out of the bedroom, but the father took him down and put him in an arm-lock. The brother called 9-1-1 on a cell phone. The father held on until police arrived only a minute later.

A neighbor is pretty sure that the same man had been prowling in her back yard, but she has dogs and that probably scared the prowler off.

Chief Gerald Maughan: We just need to be careful to lock our doors and give our kids keys so we don't leave the house unsecured, because you never know when a suspect is going to be in your neighborhood."

Police later found a knife in the suspect's coat, which he'd hung on a chair.

The police chief says screaming was the best defense.

Chief Gerald Maughan: “If they're going to kidnap you, you never know where you're going to end up. She done exactly the right thing."

The family told police they don't know Davis. his only previous encounter with police was a DUI in 1997. Now he's jailed on charges of aggravated burglary and attempted forcible sexual abuse.

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