Workers Rushed to Stop a Naked Man From Assaulting a Woman
A 63-year-old woman was violently assaulted in Sawtelle on Friday, but a group of construction workers rushed to her aid, stopping the attack and helping police detain the suspect. Rick Dreyfus, a general contractor, said he and his crew were working on a construction site on Barry Avenue near the 10 Freeway when they heard a woman’s desperate screams for help.
“Part of you freezes and thinks, ‘Is this really happening right now?’ And then part of you just knows, ‘We gotta go help her,’” Dreyfus told KTLA.
When the workers arrived, they found a naked man pinning the woman to the ground, face-down, attempting to rape her. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded to the 12:40 p.m. emergency call and arrested the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Ishmail Bangura.
Authorities later confirmed that before the attack, Bangura had run out of his nearby apartment and struck a 3-year-old child in the face. Police said he also threatened to rape and kill the woman after breaking into her apartment before she ran outside and was ultimately attacked.
Dreyfus and his crew ran to intervene and scare Bangura away, allowing the woman to escape further harm. “We looked over and saw a man assaulting an elderly lady,” Dreyfus recalled. “She was face down. He was on her back, and he was sexually assaulting her.”
