“You could tell nothing consensual was going on in that car,” said the good Samaritan who helped a woman escape from a sexual assault. He also helped local authorities capture the criminal who was trying to abuse the woman sexually.
Taylor Lawrence O’Neill was heading to work when he saw a car parked in the alley against his building. He initially thought a couple was planning to have sex there and approached the white truck in hopes they would leave.
After approaching the vehicle, the situation became apparent. “I saw him on top of her, her struggling,” O’Neill told reporters. “The woman’s mouth and nose were covered in duct tape. I tried to open the door, but it was locked, so I banged on windows.”
The assailant jumped back behind the wheel and hit the gas as the woman opened the car door and escaped. O’Neill reached for his cellphone and called 911, where he is heard telling the woman, “I’m not going anywhere, don’t worry, ok?”
As the sex offender began driving away, O’Neill took a picture of his license plates. Thanks to that, police tracked him down to his workplace in Costa Mesa, where the duct tape was still inside his car.
The man, identified as Jorge Cruz de Armas, 27, offered the woman a ride, drove her to the alley, and attempted to abuse her sexually after she refused his sexual advances.
O’Neill states he still worries what could have happened had he not been there, saying, “I think If I didn’t open the door he probably would have pulled away with her.”
Due to the method of rape and the duct tape that was in his car, which could indicate premeditation, the Santa Ana Police Department thinks there could be more victims and are requesting information.
This article was inspired by NBC // Good Samaritan Credited With Saving Woman From Rape