Horrific Attack, Heroic Rescue

One of the neighbors, a 28-year-old media relations director for a trade association, said he was entering his house when he heard the woman shrieking. He was the first to come to her aid.

"I didn't know what I was getting into," the man said. "We were kicking each other and hitting each other. She had a cut on her face. I kicked him in the jaw, but he didn't flinch. He moved, but it didn't seem to hurt him at all."

Soon the other neighbors rushed in. The media relations director said he tried to shield the woman from the man's blows, but "he kept going after her."

"He kept coming back and kicking me and hitting me to get back to her," the man said.

Another rescuer, a 43-year-old resident whose first name is Ray, said he was making dinner when he heard the commotion. He raced outside and grabbed a metal pole that was on the ground. He smashed the assailant twice in the back but the blows had no effect, Ray said.

"This guy wasn't paying any attention to us," Ray said. "He was focused on the victim."

The woman continued to scream and at one point, Ray said, she began to pray. "Please God," she said, "I don't want to die in this street."

"It was all just a blur," said Ray, who owns a small business. "I was in shock. . . . It was so quick. I just thought, 'If we don't do something right now, this woman is going to die.' "

The woman was conscious but clearly in pain, Ray said. There was so much blood on the ground that Ray's clothing and that of the media relations director were soaked in it, and they turned the clothes over to authorities as evidence, the men said.

After subduing the attacker, Ray spoke quietly to the woman, telling her everything would be all right. "We got the bastard," he told her.

Police soon arrived and put the assailant in handcuffs.

Other residents said they were jarred by such a violent attack in what they called an otherwise quiet neighborhood. The biggest crime problems, they said, usually are petty vandalism, thefts from cars and the occasional mugging.

"That is kind of scary anytime it's random," said Angela Cerkevich, 27. "It's a great neighborhood. It's nice. The neighborhood has a lot of good people, and that is why they jumped in. I think they cared."

Staff writer Nia-Malika Henderson and staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.