Woman Wakes Up In The Night To Her Stalker Beating Her, Vigilant Neighbor Saves the Day
A 57-year-old Jacksonville man faces felony charges after allegedly trying to rape a woman who had a restraining order against him Sunday and beating her so severely that her eyes were almost completely swollen shut, authorities said.
The attack was thwarted by an armed neighbor who witnessed part of it and intervened with a handgun, scaring the suspect away, according to a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrest report. Police located and arrested the suspect, identified as Zachery Leonard Richardson, 57, of Stockton Street, hours later.
A man that lived in the same apartment complex as this woman saw the perpetrator come out of the apartment and set a TV next to a vehicle. Feeling uneasy, he went back to his apartment and got his gun and went to check things out.
The woman was sleeping at 2am when she was woken up by Richardson beating her face, she screamed and he said, “Shut up, [expletive]! I’m going to rape you,” but was interrupted by the neighbor with the gun who showed up just in the nick of time. He thought Richardson was trying to kill the victim by the extreme violence he was inflicting, so he fired a round in the air and scared the suspect away.
The victim recognized her attacker and was able to describe him to police, she had a restraining order against him and he had a history of stalking and violence toward her in the past. The victim’s face was constantly bleeding and her eyes were nearly completely closed from the brutal attack. Just hours later police detained Richardson who was parked in front of a house in a different neighborhood, and he is being held without bond and has several serious charges against him.
This is a gritty, sad story but we know it could have ended so much worse if it had not been for her observant and armed neighbor.
We know, and people with knowledge of gun laws and safety know that firing a warning shot is not the best way to go, especially in an apartment complex where people could be above the roof you are shooting your warning shot at. This man was in his neighbor’s house and i’m sure it was frightening to see the violent attack happening which might have clouded this man’s judgement with the warning shot, but what we know is that it ended better than it could have, and this coward attacker fled the scene.
I’m sure the woman was extremely grateful of her armed neighbor. It is a relief the woman was not killed and a violent perpetrator is behind bars all thanks to another instance of defensive gun use.
