Suspect Arrested After Teen Girl Attacked In Thornton
By Jeff Todd
THORNTON, Colo. (CBS4)- Thornton police believe they've caught the man accused of attacking a young girl last month.
"The 13-year-old girl in this incident was a brave young lady. She went through something no one should have to go through in their entire life. I'm just fortunate she's OK right now," said 17th Judicial District Attorney Dave Young.
The incident happened Dec. 16, 2015 outside of the Urban Acrobatics gym near 84th and Huron Street.
Employees of the gym say they saw the man lurking outside for a few hours before the attack. They had told him to leave the area.
Two young girls and a mother were walking towards a car when they ran away from the suspect. Before they could lock the doors the man opened the door, reached into the car and attacked one of the girls. She was able to fend off the attack by kicking the man in the face. The mother then pulled the man out of the car and other people in the area raced in to help.
Thornton police used a plethora of eyewitnesses to develop a sketch and even had descriptions of tattoos.
Online court records show Thornton police arrested Ruben Jesus Sifuentes, 26, in December for a trespassing charge. This week he had his first court appearance after being charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child, one count aggravated.
"We had been on high alert and very mobile working with the police and the wonderful detectives and the police department to make sure this guy was reprimanded," said Will Davison, a manager at Urban Acrobatics. "They (police) eventually got in contact with us and just let us know, 'Hey, things are going to be okay.' And it was at that point I knew he had been caught. We're very proud of the community that was here during the incident. We have some wonderful people and wonderful clients that jumped into action when this had happened."
Officials wouldn't comment on Thursday about how Sifuentes was caught but did say the public's help was instrumental.
"I think we're all thankful that this guy is off the streets," Young said.
Online court records indicate Sifuentes has a criminal history dating back to when he was a juvenile. He has a number of robbery cases and a motor vehicle theft but not previous cases of this nature. His next court date is Jan. 19.
"I cannot be thankful enough for the people who jumped into action to make sure this guy did not move any further and make sure these girls and all of our clients are safe," Davison said.
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.
