Woman held against her will escapes from home on Detroit's west side; suspect at large

Police say man raped, tortured woman at home with boarded windows

DETROIT – A partially naked woman Saturday escaped a boarded-up home where she told Detroit police she had been raped by a man who held her against her will.

UPDATE: Detroit man faces charges after woman kidnapped, tortured, raped

Calls to 911 around 5 p.m. reported the woman was seen running away from a vacant home on Schoolcraft Avenue near Schaefer Highway on Detroit's west side.

Detroit police searched the house and methodically collected bags of evidence, including a rifle and a sword -- all items they said a man used to rape and torture the woman.

"She was abducted and assaulted, was taken to the house behind me here and held for two days," said Cmdr. Brian Munsey, of the Detroit Police Department.

The house appeared to be vacant with boarded windows. Police said the victim went there with the man, but once inside, he wouldn't let her leave.

"She was not tied up, but she was being held against her will," Munsey said.

The investigation reveals the woman was raped and beaten repeatedly. At some point, the man left the house, locking every door.

"The house is barricaded on the inside," Munsey said. "She was able to break a window and jump out the window to try to get help for herself."

Broken glass litters the lawn from the first-floor window she escaped from. Police said the woman ran down the street partially nude before someone called 911.

"Yeah, it's real too close to home. Really is," said Nathaniel Hicks, who lives across the street.

Hicks received a call from his wife to come home after spotting police across the street.

"I rush home and see what's going on," Hicks said. "I hear they raped somebody over there and she jumped out a window. That's crazy as hell."

Hicks knows the man who police said tortured the woman.

"I'm in disbelief that it happened because to be truthful, he didn't seem like that type of guy," Hicks said.

Neighbors told Local 4 News the 40-year-old suspect was a squatter in the west side house for more than a year, but they never imagined something so sick was going on inside.

"I'm glad she got out there and I hope she'll be alright," Hicks said.