Neighbors Come to Rescue of Woman When Stranger Tries to Rape Her

Neighbors in an Illinois town came to the aid of a 66-year-old woman Tuesday night after a man dragged her out of her home and tried to rape her.

Henry M. Yates, 22, was captured by police and charged with attempted criminal sexual assault, unlawful restraint, aggravated battery, and resisting a peace officer, The Lake and McHenry County Scanner reported.

Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Cannon said multiple 911 calls came in for a woman screaming outside a home in Waukegan around 10 p.m. Neighbors ran to the home and found the woman getting up off the ground with abrasions on her elbow.

She told police she had been inside her home with her patio door open and the screen closed, but she heard noises outside so she closed and locked the patio door. She went upstairs, and when she came down again, she saw the screen door open. She reopened the patio door to close the screen, but when she did, the suspect grabbed her and dragged her outside and onto the ground.

He got on top of her with his hands over her mouth and began trying to pull off her pants.

When the woman began screaming, the neighbors came running, and Yates fled.

The victim identified the Yates as the suspect. He was out on bond for another case in which he was caught entering the same woman’s garage.

Yates had an initial hearing on Friday and was ordered held in custody until a detention hearing on Tuesday. He is charged with two counts of criminal sexual abuse, burglary, and drug possession, according to jail records.

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[Featured image: Henry Yates/Lake County Sheriff’s Office]