BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A 50-year-old woman, who was allegedly attacked, groped, and choked by 25-year-old Byron Willis, worked at the Southwest Bakersfield apartment complex and was doing a routine check when she was attacked.
Willis is facing felony charges of attempted rape and false imprisonment with violence. He has pleaded not guilty.
According to Bakersfield Police, on December 3 around 11:15 a.m. the woman entered the empty apartment on Ming Avenue. She told police it was part of her job duties to "inspect the apartments after tenants vacated," according to court documents.
The victim told police she was in the master bedroom of an apartment, standing in the bathroom, when she felt the suspect attempt to take off her pants, according to documents. Police said Willis then began to grope the victim's breast over her clothing.
Court documents also said the victim then screamed and tried to escape the apartment. Police said Willis placed both hands around the woman's neck choking her. The woman reportedly yelled for Willis to stop before she kicked him in the groin, escaped his grasp and ran into the hallway towards the door. Documents go on to say that before she was able to exit the apartment, Willis was able to pull her down and then flee from the apartment himself.
After Willis fled, according to court documents, the victim reported to attack to BPD. Police them compiled a composite picture of the suspect.
After BPD released the composite to the media , two citizens called police identifying Willis as the man in the composite.
Police then showed the victim a photo line-up. The victim identified Willis as the man who allegedly attempted to rape her.
After his arrest, according to court documents, Willis told police that he was in Delano during the time of the attempted rape. Willis "insisted that his cellphone's google account would give a time line of his location," according to documents. Willis signed a consent form for police to search his cellphone.
BPD said that their search of Willis's cellphone Google map tracking showed "abnormalities" and had been "possibly tampered with," according to documents.
