Police: Stranger followed woman into home before sexually assaulting her

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow/Gray News) - Hawaii authorities are searching for a suspect accused of following a woman into her home with a knife and sexually assaulting her.

According to Honolulu CrimeStoppers, the man followed the woman while walking home just before 10 p.m. Monday night. When entering her home, the man brandished his knife, restrained the woman and sexually assaulting her, according to Sgt. Chris Kim of Honolulu CrimeStoppers.

Surveillance video around 9:30 p.m. Monday night shows the 27-year-old woman walking toward her home while on her phone not knowing that someone is behind her.

As she exits out of frame, a man appears a few parked cars back, ducking behind cars to remain unseen. He can also be seen carrying his shoes.

The man is then seen running in the opposite direction 15 minutes later.

Police arrived at the location nine minutes afterwards.

Neighbor Stacie Rivera told HawaiiNewsNow the incident is concerning because the area is secluded.

“To think that that kind of thing could happen way up here is kind of scary,” she said.

Manoa resident Frank Richardson said a lot of the people that live in the area, walk around the neighborhood in the evenings, especially since the COVID pandemic happened.

“We get out to exercise, we walk the hills in the evenings and a lot of women walk around as well, so that’s concerning,” he said.

The suspect is described as between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-9 and weighing roughly 140 to 150 pounds. He has light tan or olive skin and black, curly or frizzy hair that was tied up in a ponytail at the time.

He was also seen wearing a light-colored, short-sleeve shirt, dark pants, Adidas slides, a black surgical mask and was possibly wearing glasses.

The Honolulu Police Department advises people to be accompanied by others, especially during late night and early morning hours.

Women walking alone are urged to be aware of their surroundings and carry pepper spray.

“If you’re able to run away, kick, scream, shout, fight, whatever you need to do to get away, you know, please do so,” Kim said.

Anyone who has any information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (808) 955-8300.

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