Vigilante Detroit residents attack suspected rapist after police fail to act

Residents in southwest Detroit took matters into their own hands after local police delayed prosecution on a suspected rape in their neighborhood.

According to the Detroit Free Press, a group of residents twice attacked the unidentified 43-year-old man on Aug. 5, believing him to be responsible for raping a 15-year-old girl who has Down's Syndrome, leaving him with wounds on his legs and head. No arrests have been made in either attack against the alleged rapist.

The campaign against the man began online, with Facebook posts featuring a picture of the man and warnings like, "The law better find this fool before the streets do." The accuser, who has Down's Syndrome, told her parents on July 17 the unidentified man invited her into his home, assaulted her, then took pictures of her on his cell phone.

But authorities took 19 days to get a rape kit containing DNA samples from her to a State Police lab for testing, blaming a bureaucratic delay. After arresting the man on July 29, however, an assistant prosecutor rebuffed a warrant request, asking for a search of his home and more witnesses. Residents in southwest Detroit took matters into their own hands after local police delayed prosecution on a suspected rape in their neighborhood.

The Free Press also reported that the alleged assailant suffers from mental illness, having been assessed with severe depression after being committed to a mental facility in January 2012. Managers at the coffee shop where the girl works reported having to expel him from the premises for approaching women before the alleged incident.

While the man has been in hiding since the attacks, residents have broken into his home and spray-painted "rapist" above the windows to his apartment.

[Image: "Police Officers On Duty" via Shutterstock]