Would-Be Rapist Flees After Victim Bites Him

A man who broke into a Burbank house and attempted to rape a woman inside fled after the woman bit his hand, the Burbank Police Department reported Tuesday.

The 45-year-old woman was awakened about 5:30 a.m. Sunday by a man who sat on top of her in her bed and held his left hand over her mouth while brandishing an 8-inch kitchen knife in his right hand, Sgt. Don Goldberg said. The man brought the knife close to her neck and told her “Don’t do anything,” Goldberg said.

The man fled through the front door of the house and drove off in a silver-gray Ford Bronco after the woman bit his left hand, kicked him and screamed for help, Goldberg said. He had entered the house in the 1300 block of West Alameda Avenue through an unlocked kitchen window, police said.

During the struggle, the woman suffered a cut to her lower lip, but she declined medical treatment, Goldberg said. The woman told police that her bite broke the skin on the man’s hand, but he did not appear to be seriously injured. “By her actions, she probably prevented herself from being raped or possibly killed,” Goldberg said.

The man is described as being in his mid-30s, about 6 feet tall, weighing 165 to 180 pounds with thick, curly, collar-length hair. The woman told police he spoke with an accent and appeared to be Middle Eastern or Asian.