Victim In 1 Of 3 Home Invasions Says Man Threatened To Shoot Her
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - Police in Aurora have a man in custody who is accused of breaking into three homes.
The break-ins took place on Monday night, and in two cases the homeowners were attacked. Police say the suspect is Clarence Eugene Howard, 23.
All three crimes took place near South Parker Road and Yale Avenue starting at 10 p.m. The first was in the 2800 block of South Kenton Court. Then the suspect broke into a home in the 1100 block of East Linvale. A third break-in took place at a home in 2700 block of South Lansing.
An officer spotted the suspect shortly after that and arrested the man. So far his identity has not been released.
Diana Novitskaya lives at the apartment on South Kenton Court that was targeted. She told CBS4 the suspect got in through a doggie door and then stole her cellphone, choked her and tried to sexually assault her.
"He said 'If you tell somebody I'm going to shoot you,' " said Novitskaya, who said she's still feeling unsafe. "For the first three minutes I didn't feel anything. I was numb and then I started to realize what was happening."
Novitskaya said she poked at the suspect's eyes in retaliation when she was attacked. She also said that her calling to someone else in the home may have led to the suspect running off.
In the second case a purse was stolen and the victim said the suspect showed a knife.
In the third case the suspect allegedly kicked the victim and hit them in the head and stole prescription pills.
