An 8-year-old Colorado girl fought back against an intruder wearing a clown mask who tried to kidnap her during a violent late-night break-in at her family’s home, court documents say.
The victim’s neighbor, Thomas Gallegos, 56, was arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnapping, assault, child abuse and burglary, police in Sterling, northeast of Denver, said Saturday.
Gallegos had helped the girl’s family install a washer and dryer two days before, according to an arrest affidavit obtained Monday by NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver.
The affidavit, which does not identify a possible motive, shows authorities who responded to the child’s home around 2:30 a.m. Oct. 15 learned that roughly an hour before, the man, alleged to be Gallegos, entered the girl’s room and blindfolded her.
When the girl awoke and fought back, Gallegos struck her in the head, leaving her unconscious, the affidavit alleges. The assailant fled, and the victim alerted her mother when she came to, according to the document.
The victim had a contusion to her right eye and a laceration to the back of her head that required staples, the affidavit said.
A clown mask and a pair of gloves were found in the girl’s room, the document says.
Investigators identified Gallegos as a suspect through security video and location data on the girl’s phone, which the assailant took, the document says.
In an interview with police, Gallegos said he was in Denver at the time of the break-in, according to the affidavit.
“We explained that we just wanted the truth, Thomas said that he was done talking,” the document says, noting that investigators then served the suspect with a court order for his DNA and cellphone.
It isn’t clear whether Gallegos has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.
In an interview with investigators, Gallegos’ wife said her husband denied the allegations, the affidavit says. But it says she confirmed her husband was the man seen in security video recorded in an alley near the victim’s home around the time of the break-in.
In the image, the man was seen wearing dark clothes and carrying a clown mask that Gallegos’ wife said belonged to their grandson, according to the affidavit.
