Bronx Woman Recounts Horror Of Waking Up And Finding Man On Top Of Her
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Bronx woman said she was fast asleep in her bed, only to wake up and find a man on top of her trying to rape her.
The next thing she knew, she was in a fight for her life. CBS 2's Alice Gainer spoke with her Tuesday night about the frightening encounter.
The 25-year-old woman from the Edenwald section of the Bronx, who did not want her identity released, said she awoke Sunday morning to find the stranger on top of her. While she was able to fend him off, it was not until after he was gone that she realized he had also robbed her.
The woman said the thought going through her head was, "I'm going to get raped or I'm going to die."
The shirtless man "started choking me and asking me to shut up," she said.
The attack happened around 6 a.m., and even though the woman had been asleep, she said instinct kicked in and she fought back, reaching for the shirt tied around the man's face.
"We're wrestling, I managed to turn on my lamp so I could see his face," she said. "I ripped off the shirt from him."
Eventually, the man gave up and took off, she said.
"He managed to let me go and run, so I chased him upstairs and called 911," she said.
While the woman was on the phone with police, the suspect came back in the home and down a set of steps. So the woman said she reached for the biggest knife in the kitchen.
"I guess he was going to finish the job or he realized that he forgot his shirt," she said.
After the woman took a swipe at the man with a knife, he took off again, police said. Officers were able to catch up to him blocks away.
Darryal Bryan, 22, was taken into custody. He later told police he had been drinking and smoking and woke up shirtless on the living room floor. He claimed that he was not sure of where he was, and so he went to ask the woman he noticed sleeping nearby.
But the woman said the suspect apparently was able to break in through the screen of an open bathroom window. She also said he stole her ID, money, credit cards, and a camera, but added she was grateful that the story did not have a different ending.
"Every day I'm thinking, 'My mom could be making funeral arrangements,'" she said. "That's all I can think about."
Bryan was facing charges Tuesday night of attempted rape, trespassing and burglary, among others.
As for the young woman, the landlord is adding bars to the windows in her apartment, but she said she is planning to move.
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