HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. — In March, a 77- year old woman was viciously attacked as she was asleep inside the Heritage Hill Manor retirement home in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas.
Police Chief James Smith means business when it comes to finding the person who did it.
“We don’t want to come and tear people’s doors down, but if that’s what it takes to bring justice and do it in the righteous way and a civil way, we’re going to do it,” Smith said.
The woman was in bed when she noticed a silhouette of someone standing over her, Smith said. The man sexually assaulted her, he said.
He said the man covered the woman’s eyes so she couldn’t see him. The only decripton she was able to give police is that he has a pot belly.
Smith says what the man did next has him troubled.
“The individual made a statement that was kind of eerie,” he said. “The statement was, ‘Can I see you again?’”
Smith says it’s a mystery how the man managed to enter the retirement home. Detectives say they found no evidence of forced entry.
“We looked at everything, we looked at people who may have fit that description, to people who have lived there in the past, down to up makes deliveries at the facility,” he said.
Police say surveillance video shows the man just moments before the attack.They’re hoping someone recognizes him.
“That may be your relative, that may be a friend of yours, or that person maybe laying beside you at night, but it that happened to an innocent individual, who said it won’t happen to you as well,” Smith said.
If you know who this person is or know anything about this crime, you are urged to call the Helena-West Helena Police at 870-572-3441. All calls are confidential.
