Neighbors react to South Bend home invasion, attempted sexual assault
SOUTH BEND, Ind.—Neighbors are voicing concern as police search for a man wanted in connection with a South Bend home invasion and attempted sexual assault.
Police were called to the home around 9:10 a.m. Wednesday morning after a woman reported that she woke up to a man standing over her bed.
The man allegedly entered her home on South 27th Street in South Bend’s River Park neighborhood, with a gun.
The victim, a 28-year-old single mother of two, was taken to the hospital after the incident and has since been released.
A neighbor, Lace Cutler, said there are many single mothers that live in the area and it could have easily been her.
“I didn’t hear anything, I didn’t notice anything, I didn’t know anything going on with her. So now I’m nervous about me and my kids,” Cutler said.
Cutler plans on getting more security around her home following the incident, including cameras.
Another neighbor, Tammeka Smith, says she is not nervous about it happening to her because she is “legally protected.”
Neighbors and friends of the victim have a message for the suspect.
“I don’t know who you are but it’s a very sick and cruel thing you did to go in to someone’s home and violate them the way you did,” Smith said.
Cutler said that both of the victim’s children, a 2 and 3-year-old, are safe with their father.
Police are actively investigating the incident.
The suspect is described as a white male with a shaved head, last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt, jeans, and older tennis shoes.
South Bend Police are asking anyone with information to call them at (574) 235-9201.