99-Year-Old Woman Sexually Assaulted At Home On New Year's Eve, Suspect Charged

A California man, accused of sexually assaulting a 99-year-old woman on New Year’s Eve, was arrested and charged with the help of the public.

The incident happened at 12:36 p.m. local time (3:36 p.m. EST) Monday on the 800 block of Pacific Avenue in Tenderloin, San Francisco, California, at a public housing development building. The accused – 26-year-old Teandre Howard-Kidd – allegedly forced his way into the victim’s apartment and sexually assaulted the elderly woman.

Howard-Kidd was charged Wednesday with sexual assault, residential burglary and elder abuse. He is scheduled to appear at the San Francisco Superior Court Thursday for his arraignment. Till then, he will remain in San Francisco Jail on $275,000 bail, SF Gate reported.

Although the suspect fled from the scene, he was caught Tuesday around 4 p.m. local time (7 p.m. EST). Tenderloin police officer Grace Gatpandan said the man was arrested after they circulated photos of the man, who was seen wearing blue vest with black, a light gray hooded sweatshirt, white striped pants and black and white golf-type shoes in the screenshots of surveillance footage provided by housing staff members.

The police also described the man as 35 to 40 years old and five feet, 11 inches to six feet, one inch tall and weighing about 180 pounds. The suspect also had facial hair.

“@SFPDTenderloin units have located the suspect and placed him under arrest. Thank you all for your help in locating this suspect. And thank you TTF Units for your diligent work,” the police tweeted as an update, Tuesday.

Norman Fong, executive director of the Chinatown Community Development Center, which oversaw the Ping Yuen public housing project, where the victim was living, said he met the unidentified elderly woman after the attack and was amazed that the attack did not bring down her “courage and strong spirit.”

“We are committed to working closely with our San Francisco Police Department and the community to strengthening the security of the neighborhood,” Fong said, adding that the woman said she just wished never to meet her assailant again.

In August, a 77-year-old grandmother was sexually assaulted by a teenager who showed up at her house at Fort Worth, Texas, claiming to be a police officer and tried to take advantage of her, ABC-affiliated WFAA reported.

She later described the attack in harrowing details. "He knocked me down and drug me and he was looking for something to tie me up, and he tied me around my neck. He was gonna cut me,” she said. “I was holding all my strength so he wouldn't stab me. I told him, 'God loves you. Please don't do this. You don't have to do it.’”

Only when an alarm buzzer went off at her house after 45 minutes did her assailant stop and flee the scene with the victim’s vehicle and some cash. The suspect was identified by the police as Jesus Gloria, 19, and charged with aggravated sexual assault, aggravated robbery, injury to an elderly person and impersonating a public servant.