Police are crediting a Good Samaritan with stopping a sexual assault on a woman on her way home in Stamford. It's an attack investigators say they've seen more of lately.
Investigators say a 20-year-old woman was not aware of her surroundings when Augusto Carreras and Ruben Enio Sandoval befriended her as she was walking down Washington Boulevard early Saturday morning
The Stamford Advocate reports that Ruben Enio Sandoval, 35, and Augusto Carreras, 53, were arrested on sexual assault, unlawful restraint and conspiracy charges.
Meanwhile Kerilyn Whitehead and her friend were at a light in their car at the corner of Summer and North Streets. They were heading home for the night but what they saw across the street didn't seem right: an intoxicated woman who couldn't walk being held up by two men.
"They couldn't get her across the street so they kept walking her down the street," said Kerilyn Whitehead, who was worried about this highly intoxicated girl.
She stopped and backed up into the Dairy Queen parking lot to cut the men off.
"The guy just kind of looked at me, one had his head down, the other looked at me and couldn't really speak English," Whitehead added.
She then backed out of the lot again onto North Street to try and catch up to them but the light was red.
"So I backed all the way down this street and down Dolsen Place," Whitehead said.
Even though they were going the wrong way on Dolsen, they had called the police knowing that they had to do something.
"She had been screaming when she was coming across the street so she heard them in one of the windows screaming so we waited there for the cops to come," Whitehead said.
Court documents say an officer saw Sandoval having sex with the woman who passed out on a mattress and police were able to stop the assault.
"At first we didn't think she was actually in danger with these two guys it just looked like she was so drunk she might need medical attention," said Whitehead's friend who didn't want to reveal her name.
But something about it seemed suspicious, according to Whitehead's friend.
"There was just something about the situation that didn't look good," Whitehead's friend added.
Police said Carreras and Sandoval might have drugged her then dragged her through the streets of Stamford back to Carreras' apartment on Dolsen Place. Police admit had it not been for Whitehead and her friend this could've been worse.
"I haven't stopped thinking about this poor girl since," Whitehead's friend said. "I wish we could've done something sooner."
"People need to be aware that it goes on all the time and you should be able to help," Whitehead added.
Detectives say they've seen an uptick in these types of crimes as people too drunk and unaware of their surroundings have been taken advantage of. Investigators plan to launch a public service campaign next week.
